Exit Polls Will Sample 75,000 Voters Across 45 States
A coalition of news outlets will use in-person and remote interviews to analyze voter demographics and issue priorities during the midterm election.
By Lauren Bello ·
SSRS will conduct exit polls for a group of news organizations during the 2026 midterm election. The survey aims to identify who voted and what issues motivated those choices before final tallies are complete.
The project involves a national sample of more than 75,000 voters. Data collection will happen in person at polling places and remotely via phone, mail, and online platforms. Interviewers will station themselves at over 450 polling locations in 15 Senate battleground states.
The questionnaire contains approximately 25 questions. Respondents will indicate whether they voted for a Democratic or Republican House candidate. In many states, the poll also asks about Senate and governor races. Interviewers will count people leaving the polls and offer forms to every third or fifth person from opening to closing time.
Demographic data serves a specific statistical purpose in this process. Age, gender, race, and education levels help analysts weight the results. This weighting ensures the poll reflects the actual demographics of the electorate and the election outcomes.
The survey includes a pre-election component to capture early voters and those voting by mail. Before Election Day, researchers contact respondents through mailed invitations, text messages, and online surveys. Interviewers then follow up to confirm participation and final ballot choices. Respondents may complete the poll in English or Spanish.
Fifteen states will receive detailed state-level exit polls with sample sizes of about 4,000 voters. These states are Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. Alaska will have a sample of about 3,000 voters, including early voting sites. Other states with relevant races will have samples ranging from 500 to 3,000 voters.
The participating news organizations are NBC News, ABC News, The Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and MS NOW. These companies jointly develop the questionnaire and conduct methods. They all receive the same underlying data. Each outlet then analyzes and reports on the results independently.
NBC News will not release exit poll results before 5 p.m. Eastern Time on election night. Results that might suggest a race outcome will wait until polls close in that specific state. The data is tabulated and reweighted in real time as interviewers phone in new results to a central data center three times daily.
