Exit Polls 2019: All you need to know about the polls that will be released shortly in the evening today

India’s month-long general election — that started from April 11— are going to conclude with the seventh and final phase today. The primary contest in the election is to win majority seats in the lower house of the parliament. The Lok Sabha Election 2019 is one of the largest democratic exercises in the world. As many as 900 million voters are expected to decide the fate of the new central government. The results are expected on 23 May.

Various national pollsters including News18-IPSOS, India Today-Axis, Times Now-VMR, NewsX-Neta, Republic-Jan Ki Baat, Republic-CVoter, ABP-CSDS, and Today's Chanakya are going to release Exit polls after the seventh phase of Lok Sabha Election 2019 finishes at 6 pm.

The Exit Polls, however, will be released only after the 7th phase ends


What are exit polls?

Exit polls are a survey of voters conducted immediately after the voters have left their polling station. It is a private survey conducted by various private organization and indicates the potential results based on certain assumptions.

How are exit polls held?

Different private agencies use a variety of methods to carry out the exit polls. The polls depend on different methods of sampling used by the organisations. Some agencies do random sampling while some go for systematic sampling. Other parameters used in the exit polls include age, sex, caste, and religion.

Generally, the organisation surveying the voters ask whom they have voted on an assumption that they will answer correctly. Once all the phases concludes they predict the trend.


Election Commission's guidelines on Exit Polls

The Election Commission of India does not allow anyone to release exit polls until half an hour after the final phase has been conducted under the Section 126A of the Representation Section 126A of the Representation of the People's Act, 1951.

Anyone who does not adhere to the action is punishable. The punishment can be two years of prison with fine.
‘Any violation by member broadcasters reported to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) by the Election Commission will be dealt with by the NBSA under its regulations," the EC said.