Why in the News?

As Bihar Assembly Election 2025 concludes, media houses released the exit poll results after 6:30 pm, following Election Commission of India (ECI) restrictions.

What are Exit Polls?

• Overview: Exit polls are post-voting surveys conducted immediately after voters leave polling stations to find out how they voted and what influenced their choice.
• Objective: To give an early indication of election outcomes and study voter behaviour, issues, and demographics before official results.
• Origin in India: First conducted in 1957 by the Indian Institute of Public Opinion during the 2nd Lok Sabha elections.
• Methodology: Randomly selected voters are interviewed anonymously after casting their vote; responses are aggregated and analysed statistically to predict seat shares and trends.

How are Exit Polls conducted?

• Sampling: Based on random or stratified sampling to reflect gender, caste, religion, and regional representation.
• Questionnaires: Ask voters which party or candidate they chose and gather demographic or opinion data.
• Data Collection: Conducted by trained field agents under strict non-interference rules at polling stations.
• Data Analysis: Responses are weighted and adjusted for turnout and demographics before generating projections.
• Confidentiality: All answers remain anonymous to preserve voting secrecy.

Regulation of Exit Polls:

• Constitutional Basis: Governed by Article 324, empowering the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure free and fair elections.
• Statutory Law: Section 126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 bans conducting or publishing exit polls from start of the first phase till 30 minutes after last phase ends.
• Penalties: Violation may lead to two years imprisonment, a fine, or both.
• Media Rules: Must disclose sample size, method, and margin of error when publishing results.
• Registration: Polling agencies must be registered with the ECI and follow official publication guidelines.

Recent Amendments and Practices:

• Monitoring: The ECI now closely monitors media and digital platforms to prevent early leaks of exit poll data.
• Digital Coverage: Restrictions apply to social media and online news during multi-phase elections.
• Publication Control: No state-wise or partial results can be released until polling ends nationwide.
• Transparency: Media houses must submit methodology and get ECI clearance before publishing exit poll results.
• Purpose: To prevent misinformation and voter influence during ongoing polling.

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