After a year and a half of ugly rhetoric from Donald Trump, Latino voters turned out in historic numbers this past Presidential election — and they were decisively in Hillary Clinton’s corner, 79-18 according to expert pollsters Latino Decisions.
It’s why the exit polling we’ve seen coming from by Edison Research — which gives Trump a significantly larger lead among Latino voters and misrepresents data where Latinos turned out in record numbers — just doesn’t pass the laugh test.
As we’ve noted, this isn’t just about methodology. Selling the Latino vote short, as this national exit polling does, essentially diminishes – even disenfranchises – Latino voters at a moment of maximum peril.
Yesterday, following a presentation with Dr. Matt Barreto of Latino Decisions, Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra issued a letter to House Democratic members, writing that he is “reaching out to Edison Research to request the data and methodology behind its reporting and I urge media networks to do the same”:
“The results of this election on November 8 were a surprise to many. But now there is growing concern over the widespread misrepresentation by top media outlets of the final results for one particular segment of the vote: the Latino vote.
“The media are reporting that the Latino vote broke 65% to 29% for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Those numbers differ wildly from what virtually every reputable poll reported up to Election Day. The consensus of polls leading into election night was that Trump had the support of less than 20% of Latinos nationwide.
“How could the exit polling and the media get it so wrong?
“The media rely on Edison Research, the firm granted an exclusive contract to conduct exit polling on behalf of the National Election Pool (NEP), a consortium of the major media networks. Edison Research has not disclosed the data and methodology behind its election day exit polling, prompting more questions than answers. We also know that Edison Research has made mistakes before with its exit poll reporting.
“It’s incumbent upon any polling organization, but especially one which has a monopoly over the reporting, to provide an accurate assessment of exit polling data for a presidential election. Right now, there is little transparency regarding Edison Research’s survey of Latino voters. It’s hard to believe the results being reported by the media when they are in such conflict with all of the reliable polling done up to election day.
“I’m reaching out to Edison Research to request the data and methodology behind its reporting and I urge media networks to do the same.”
