AOA Exit Poll 2010 results
We did sort of have to resist the urge to tell it how many copies we wanted.
Here are the results from AOA's informal exit poll yesterday. Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill it out -- we got 133 responses.
Charts and a few comments after the jump.
A few quick notes: We asked people a freeform question about what they think the most important issue is this year. There were some interesting responses. We're still in the process of coding them -- we'll post them Thursday.
Also, some people using Safari and Chrome had problems with the survey. Sorry about that. We didn't realize it wasn't working in those browsers until last night.
All these charts should be clickable for a larger view (the quality of the images is less than great).
How was your voting experience?
This seemed to track with everything we heard. The most common complaint we heard yesterday (and we experienced it, too) is that at some polling sites the new process doesn't seem as private as the old way.
Did you miss the lever machines?
Good night, fair lever machines. You'll be missed. Sort of.
How did you feel about incumbents this year?
The Capital Region didn't seem to have any incumbents that were necessarily crying out to be whacked this time (that's not to say a few should maybe shuffle off the stage). But this sort of response points at why incumbents are so hard to beat.
How do feel about the direction of New York State?
Oof.
How confident are you about the direction of the Capital Region?
It's interesting that people feel somewhat OK about this area, but much less so about the state.
Which of these words do you think will best describe the New York governor inaugural?
We're pulling for semi-homemade.
Say Something!
We'd really like you to take part in the conversation here at All Over Albany. But we do have a few rules here. Don't worry, they're easy. The first: be kind. The second: treat everyone else with the same respect you'd like to see in return. Cool? Great, post away. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks for being patient.
Comments
I had now idea what the last question was about. Past inaugurals, future inaugurals? The event? The speech? Does anybody even pay attention to state inaugurations?
... said BobF on Nov 3, 2010 at 3:54 PM | link
@BobF: It was a bit of a Sandra Lee joke.
... said Greg on Nov 3, 2010 at 5:09 PM | link
Ok, a majority says the direction of NY State is going the wrong way, yet the incumbents are good.
NYers are mostly stupid and proved it Nov 2nd, especially with Tomko and Breslin being re-elected.
It's time to create a NY Exodus movement. Thousands flocking elsewhere, bankrupting the state
... said James Campbell on Nov 3, 2010 at 5:12 PM | link
@Greg well that reference went over my head as well.
... said BobF on Nov 4, 2010 at 12:04 PM | link
James, that's been happening for years now. Anyway, that's a commen tof the "put up for shut up" variety, so enjoy whatever other state it is you move to.
Of course it makes sense that people in Albany think that Albany is doing well and that their incumbents are OK, but that the state itself is doing poorly. People almost always think the problem is "out there" somewhere. The respondents to this (informal, non-scientific) survey are also much more familiar with the capital region and their own representatives than they are with the state as a whole or with representatives from other districts and wards. So of course, if they hear or think that the state is doing badly, they'll probably lay blame on the areas they don't know as much about.
This is also borne out in almost every midterm election, when polls show that people overwhelmingly want to "vote the bums out" but instead the incumbents or the majority party stay in place (usually). That's because "vote the bums out" really means "everyone everywhere else should vote the bums in all those places out".
Nothing new here, really.
... said B on Nov 4, 2010 at 12:30 PM | link
James,
I think both Tonko and Breslin have excellent policies and have done a lot for our area. And if you're trying to prove how stupid NYers are, you might want to start by actually knowing the names of your representatives. Tomko??
... said Kris on Nov 4, 2010 at 12:46 PM | link