Posts Tagged: PDI

News

Major political data firm shuts door on Republicans

A voter casts his ballot in a vote center at L.A.'s Pantages Theatre, Oct. 31, 2020. (Photo: Ringo Chiu, via Shutterstock)

Democrats, who already enjoy an overwhelming lead in California voter registration, now have one more advantage over the state’s beleaguered Republicans. Political Data Inc., California’s preeminent firm supplying information to political types, has announced that it will henceforth only work for “progressives” and Democrats.

News

CA120: Voter registration at highest portion of eligibles in 80 years

A potential voter fills out a voter registration form. (Photo: Rawpixel, com, via Shutterstock)

California has now reached an historic high of over 21 million registered voters. The current PDI voter file, after a full refresh of county files, puts total voter registration at 21,086,077. As a share of eligible voters, this puts the state at 83%, a higher rate of registration than we have seen since the presidential election of 1940.

Analysis

CA120: The changing nature of public polls

An image depicting the varied responses in political polling. (Illustration: Tim Foster/Capitol Weekly),

ANALYSIS: The public opinion polling industry in many ways is at a crossroads. For years public polls were run with live telephone interviews using a system of “random digit dialing” or RDD, which allowed a poll to be based on samples which would be naturally balanced since all potential voters had the same probability to be administered a phone survey.

Analysis

CA120: Voter files, panels and the search for truth

An illustration of the electorate. (Image: M-SUR, via Shutterstock)

ANALYSIS: Pew Research recently released a report titled Commercial Voter Files and the Study of U.S. Politics, which initially looked like a really interesting piece for someone like me who works in voter files every day. But one paragraph in, I nearly laughed out of my chair. The reason? There is a big difference between voter files and panels.

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