A judge struck down Minnesota's exit poll statute, which forbade asking voters about ballot issues, as a content-based restriction on speech about government affairs that violated the First Amendment. Georgia's prohibition on exit polling within 250 feet of voting places was unconstitutional because it prohibited such activities even if they did not disrupt voting on public forum property, a federal judge ruled in 1988. In 1989, Florida's Supreme Court struck down a state prohibition on exit polling within 50 feet of voting places. The court said officials had not substantiated claims that exit polling disrupted voting. But the court ruled that the state could bar journalists from entering polling places to ask questions or take photographs in order to prevent disruption.
Some states still enforce broad exit poll bans.
Nebraska maintains a 100-foot restriction on polling. In Oklahoma, a pollster must obtain written authorization from the Secretary of the State Election Board no later than the Wednesday before the election in order to poll within 300 feet. Even with this identification, the pollster must remain 50 feet from the voting place and is restricted to written polling materials. No recording devices or oral interviews are allowed. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press .