Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton
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Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential race came as a surprise to many voters, as Hillary Clinton had a strong lead in the polls prior to Election Day. Political analyst Ron Faucheux of New Orleans says many of the polls were off by at least three points, and he thinks it’s because some states were over polled.

“Between the candidates calling and the pollsters calling average voters, I think a lot of voters had gotten to the point that they were just sick of it,” Faucheux said.

Faucheux says the methodology in a lot of the polls was questionable because not as many people have landlines, like in previous elections. He says some surveys were conducted online rather than by phone, and those results were far less accurate.

“The problem is that if you can’t call landlines and you have to call cell phones, it’s much more expensive to do that, and it takes much more time,” Faucheux said.

Faucheux says some polling firms are cutting corners to save money. He says it’s more expensive to conduct surveys via cellphones than online or through landlines. He says the methodology will have to improve for future polls.

“Media organizations are going to have to make a determination that they’re not going to spend money on polling unless they’re convinced the organization has a good track record, and they’re spending the money necessary to do a good job,” Faucheux said.

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