Exit Poll Results 2022 For UP, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand: How is it different from an opinion poll?

New Delhi, Mar 07: All eyes would be on exit polls as the voting for seventh and final phase polling in Uttar Pradesh all set to conclude today by 6pm. Voting for the Assembly Elections 2022 will come to an end for five Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa on Monday.

The exit polls will be released only after 7pm today (March 7). It is not going to be out soon as the election commission has banned the publishing of exit poll results till the completion of voting in all poll-bound states.

Though counting of votes for all five is set to take place on March 10, Thursday, Zee News and India.com will come up with exit poll results of Vidhan Sabha Chunav that will give a clear picture of what the people of these states have decided for the next 5 years.

The results for post-poll survey will be declared after 6:30 PM. Notably, the Election Commission had banned all exit polls till March 7, 6.30 pm. In a statement, UP's Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla had said that conducting the exit polls, its publication in print or electronic media, or its publicity has been banned till 6.30 pm on March 7. Any person who violates the order will be punished with a two-year jail term or fine or both.

What are exit polls?

Exit poll is a post-voting poll, that are conducted just after a voter walks out after casting his/her vote. Such polls aim at predicting the actual result on the basis of the information collected from voters. Also, the exit polls are conducted by a number of organisations. The basic step to predict exit polls is sampling.

As per Section 126A of the Representation of the People's Act, 1951, the Election Commission puts a ban on exit polls from the period between the commencements of the poll until half an hour after the closing of the final phase of the poll.

How exit polls are conducted?

An exit poll is a post-voting survey conducted soon after a voter walks out after casting his/her vote. The sole aim of an exit poll is to predict the result of any election based on the information collected from voters. They are conducted by a number of organisations. Sampling is the basic step to predict exit polls.

How an exit poll is different from an opinion poll?

An opinion poll is conducted to ascertain the public opinion before voting, while an exit poll happens right after polling. Opinion poll asks the voters, whom they have planned to vote but an exit poll asks for whom the voter actually voted.