When ballots arrive for counting after polls close tonight, nine bags with bright orange tags will be grabbed first by Hamilton County Board of Elections workers. The nine precincts will be among the first counted, part of the hundreds requested throughout Ohio to help TV networks and the Associated Press project the Democratic and Republican presidential winners. We inspect the bags, open them, and take them upstairs immediately to get them counted. The process will be repeated today across Ohio, and in 10 other states from New York to California, at the request of the Voter News Service, a consortium of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and the Associated Press. Exit polling, first used by networks in the 1960s, has provided crucial information about crossover voting by independents and Democrats for Sen. John McCain in Republican presidential primaries this year, and about how people of various faiths feel about George W. Bush and Mr. McCain.
Exit polls are the best way of trying to understand what voters are trying to say by their vote.
A virtual army, more than 1,000 people nationwide, will help VNS compile voters' opinions and raw vote totals today, says Lee C. Shapiro, VNS media services director. VNS won't let Ms. Vallone speak to reporters, so it's not known exactly how many people are gathering election data in Ohio. VNS also won't say how many voters will be polled in Ohio or other states today. Details are kept secret to protect the scientifically selected random probability sample, Ms. Shapiro says. But area county elections officials had no problem discuss ing VNS' plans.