WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) — After badly missing the mark in its prediction of last November’s U.S. presidential election, the polling firm Gallup will review its statistical procedures.
Gallup received heavy criticism for predicting in its daily tracking poll that Republican nominee Mitt Romney would edge out a victory over incumbent Democrat Barack Obama. Gallup’s often-quoted national popular vote daily tracking poll stood at 49 percent for the former Massachusetts governor and 48 percent for the president on the eve of the election.
The final result was 51 percent for Obama and 47 percent for Romney in the national popular vote. That measure translated into a comfortable electoral college win for the president.
Politico said Gallup is hiring outside experts to re-examine its polling methodology, which critics on the Obama campaign said were flawed from the start.
Gallup Editor in Chief Frank Newport said the review, results of which will be announced in June, will include “simulations and re-examination of every component of the pre-election polling process.”
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