Idaho Dispatch to Release Prop 1 Poll Results Next Week
By Idaho Dispatch Staff • October 5, 2024Idaho Dispatch will be the only news outlet in the state to have completed scientific polling on Proposition 1 and the results of our polling will be released next week.
The scientific poll is being conducted by Zoldak Research and is nearly complete. Here is a tentative scheduled of when the results will be released to the public.
First, anyone who has provided funding to the polling will be invited to a Zoom call in which the results will be discussed and Questions about the polling answered. If you wish to be on that call, Idaho Dispatch previously stated that anyone donating $50 or more to help fund the polling would be available for this first call which should take place sometime Tuesday evening.
You can donate here.
Second, anyone who is an Idaho Dispatch subscriber will be invited to a call on Wednesday evening via a Zoom call. Idaho Dispatch appreciates our paid subscribers and one benefit of being a paid subscriber is being invited to special events or early access to unique content.
Third, Idaho Dispatch will offer a final exclusive free call on Friday evening that will be open to the public before the results are released online to the public on Saturday, October 12.
Idaho Dispatch previously used Zoldak Research during the 2022 gubernatorial election. The results of that poll ended up being very accurate.
With a lot of interest from Idaho Dispatch readers in the status of Prop 1, we made the decision to do some polling on where the public is at this time on the ballot initiative. It should be kept in mind that it is just one poll from one point in time but will hopefully give the public some understanding of where Prop 1 stands.
Note: Idaho Dispatch asked Zoldak Research to find proportional representation for the polling from the 2020 presidential election based on party affiliation. For instance, 61% of voters in the 2020 election were Republicans, 25% were unaffiliated voters, and 12.5% were Democrats. Respondents to our Prop 1 polling will be close to those numbers.
Tags: Idaho Dispatch, Proposition 1, Ranked Choice Voting, RCV, Top Four Primary, Zoldak Research
I truly wish you would NOT release this Prop1 poll until AFTER Election Day and all votes are counted. THEN compare the results.
I believe polls influence voting behavior in several ways, including:
-> Voters who see “their side” winning might not show up, thinking they do not need to. This could cause the results to “flip” due to apathy.
-> Voters who see “their side” losing might show up in droves, thinking they most vote harder. This could cause the results to “flip” due to enthusiasm.
-> Thoughts (i.e. polls) are not votes, even if the poll is super scientific or well-funded. Only people’s actual votes matter, not people’s opinions about the issue before they vote.
-> Some people change their minds and their votes at the last minute.
-> Some people either refuse to take polls or they deliberately skew them.
-> Polls can influence people’s natural “herd mentality” such that they might not think critically and just succumb to peer pressure of not wanting to be “wrong.” (People tend to forget that votes are secret, that somehow people will “find out” how they voted.)
—-> I don’t want to be the outlier.
—-> I don’t want to go against “consensus.”
One famous psychological experiment (whose specific details escape me) showed how people could be convinced that one line was longer than another when it clearly was not — just because other people who were influenced to lie said it was longer.
So, please reconsider publishing this poll ahead of the vote — but absolutely continue publishing accurate information and well-formed opinions all the way to Election Day.