No Exit Polling After Mayoral Race For the First Time Since 1985

After Election Day next week, New York’s political analysts won’t know what percentage of Hispanics voted for Fernando Ferrer. Nor will they know whether the gay vote went to Mayor Bloomberg or whether women favored the Democrat or the Republican.That’s because this year, for the first time since 1985, there will be no exit polling.Normally, news organizations gather together to survey voters as they leave the polls. That information helps determine the makeup of the electorate and helps analysts draw conclusions about the success or failure of campaigns.“We’re back to the dark ages before exit polls,” a Baruch College professor of public affairs, Douglas Muzzio, said. “Before the exit poll, it was guesswork and looking at actual voting from precincts. We’re back to square one. We’re really in the dark ages, and we’re in the dark.”A political consultant, Jerry Skurnick, said if it weren’t for exit polls no one would have known whether Mayor Bloomberg won 30% or 50% of the Hispanic vote in 2001.He said analysts can inspect which districts vote for a candidate after the fact – but he said if a district is half Hispanic and half black, “you won’t know for sure.”Another political consultant, Joseph Mercurio, said, “I wish we had exit polls,” but he said New Yorkers are used to making do without the extra data: none of the City Council or other local races have exit polls.***Mayor Bloomberg and his Democratic opponent, Fernando Ferrer, are fighting for Hispanic votes in the final days of the campaign. Yesterday, during a rally in East Harlem, Mr. Bloomberg got endorsements from the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and from the son of the baseball legend, Roberto Clemente, a move that seemed designed to cut into the voter base that Mr. Ferrer, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is counting on. At a get-out-the-vote rally last night, Mr. Bloomberg stood with his counterpart from San Juan, Jorge Santini-Padilla, Roberto Clemente Jr., and three other members of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives. The Bronx Democratic County Committee will, however, hold a rally for Mr. Ferrer’s campaign today, where it expects 64 elected officials, activists, and supporters from Puerto Rico. According to a news release sent out by the committee, they will be in the city until Monday “mobilizing Freddy’s Hispanic base.”***The Democratic mayoral nominee, Fernando Ferrer, is running a 30-second commercial on Spanish-language television that flashes the phrase “Dignidad Contra Dinero” or “Dignity Against Money,” across the bottom of the screen. The reference is, of course, to the massive amount of money that Mr. Bloomberg has poured into his bid for re-election. Yesterday, during a news conference, the candidate defended the use of the phrase when asked by a reporter whether the mayor lacks dignity. A spokeswoman for Mr. Ferrer, Christy Setzer, later said it was a takeoff on the Spanish phrase “Verguenza Contra Dinero,” which also roughly means “Dignity Against Money.” Also yesterday, during a radio interview with Brian Lehrer on WNYC, Mr. Ferrer denied that his opposition to the Atlantic Yards project was an about-face. He said that the project was not transparent enough. “We ought to call a halt to this right now” so that it can be re-evaluated, he said. He also acknowledged that he had no poll indicating that the race was closer than the public opinion polls suggest. The polls show Mr. Bloomberg with a 30-point lead.

No Exit Polling After Mayoral Race For the First Time Since 1985

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