However, these groups tend to exert less influence over issues of central concern to the public than over those that are not as prominent, such as Medicare policies for paying physicians and hospitals. The first group consists of five national surveys conducted by telephone between May and November 2000. Each survey included between 1052 and 1477 randomly selected registered voters or self-described voters in the 2000 election. In exit surveys, questionnaires are distributed at voting places that have been selected to obtain a sample that will reflect the opinions of voters throughout the country. The voters fill out the questionnaires after they have cast their votes.
All surveys are subject to sampling error.
The results may differ from those that would have been obtained if the whole population had been interviewed. To compensate for known biases in survey-derived estimates resulting from differences in nonresponse rates among subgroups of people, the responses are weighted with the use of data from recent Census reports. In this article, when we refer to Republican or Democratic voters, we mean registered voters or self-described voters who identify themselves as Republicans or Democrats. When we refer to Bush or Gore voters, we mean those who in an exit poll reported that they had voted for George W. Bush or Al Gore. Views of Republican and Democratic Voters Table 1 shows the most important issues in the 2000 presidential race, as viewed by Bush and Gore voters.