Judith Said:

Is it true they only call home phones for the presidential election polls?

We Answered:

Yes, so people who have jobs during the day don't get calls.

Jerome Said:

How do they come up with presidential election polls?

We Answered:

There are several ways in which you can participate in presidential polls. If you sign up for regular emails from a news organization such as CNN or FOX, they send out their own poll questions via email to you.
Certain candidates such as John Edwards gives his supporters a list of websites you can go to in order to participate in these polls.

There are also web addresses that you can go to such as Zogby, CNN, FOX, and POLLING POINT, that ask these questions every quarter during an election year to get the current information about which candidates voters are supporting at the moment.

I personally subscribe free to all of these organizations, and there are at least a hundred more, to my inbox. It also keeps me up with current campaign and news info. I vote from there because these are the major polls, along with USA TODAY. Another one is the Des Moines Register Poll which is counted and important early on. But I am fortunate to live in Iowa, where I get to meet all of the candidates, or at least the ones I want to.

Very rarely do they take phone polls anymore. Mostly candidate call banks are set up to call people in voting districts (usually by the precinct captain), to secure a vote for their candidate.

I hope this has answered your questions. If you want your voice heard, sign up for the free subscriptions if you want to.
I have a huge spam filter and tons of security on my computer, so I don't get spam that is commonly sent to some of these websites.

However, I can tell you that you have to do your homework and find out who owns all of these newspapers and news stations. The owners usually influence the polls as to which candidate they want as the front runner.

For instance, in the 2004 election-Zogby poll which is often quoted on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, is owned by an Arab and an Arab organization. John Kerry had ties to the Zogby organization and received PAC money from them during his election. So they put him out front in their polls.
FOX is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who wants to see Guliani get in. So his polls will always be shaped with that candidate out front.

Lastly, people who vote by who is popular in polls make a big mistake. And then there is that mentality that people don't want to be on a losing team either. So they vote for whoever is popular. This is why polls don't work, and they are not accurate. They are biased. As well as exit polls that you hear about on election night. People tend to lie on those.

If you ever want to get into this further, there are several good books out there that talk about this subject, or volunteer on a campaign for the person you support. I did in 2004, and this is how I learned all of this information.

Marvin Said:

How accurate do you think Pre Election Presidential Polls are in the US?

We Answered:

There are too many polls, that do not divulge who they poll, what exactly they ask in the polls nor do they cover enough of the population for them to be very accurate.

In my opinion, polls are a waste of money, time and resources.

Shirley Said:

Where can I sign up to work the presidential election polls in Pensacola, Florida?

We Answered:

Escambia County Elections Office
(850) 595-3900

They may already have all they need but you can call to see. Most of the training has already been held and assignments made. I am a worker and we have extensive training in advance of each election. I would call immediately and ask if they still need any one. Ask to speak to Gail. If not for this one, you can still sign up and as they need people for future elections, they call in new ones.

Stacy Said:

3 weeks from today where do you think the presidential election polls will stand?

We Answered:

I think Obama's #'s will be higher

Claude Said:

What do the 2008 Presidential Election polls say?

We Answered:

All the major polls have Obama ahead his lead ranges from 3-9% depending on the poll.

That site estimates the current electoral count at 264 to 163, Obama, with 111 to close to call.