Push polls, those potent yet underhanded tools used to manipulate voters and depress turnout have emerged recently in El Paso politics, and voters need to know one when they hear one. Nationally, push polls have become a popular strategy tool to manipulate voters' opinions about political candidates and political issues, but not until the 2003 Mayor's race were push polls used extensively in El Paso. Because of their infrequent use locally, few El Pasoans are familiar with push polls and how they are used to manipulate their political choices.

Push polls are one of the lowest and most manipulative forms of negative campaigning and should be challenged by voters and the media. In a city with very low voter turnout, push polling is especially cynical. Candidates who use push polls in advancing their campaigns should be held accountable by the voters and the media.

What are "Push Polls?"

According to the American Association for Public Opinion Research, "A push poll is a telemarketing technique in which telephone calls are used to canvass potential voters, feeding them false or misleading "information" about a candidate under the pretense of taking a poll to see how this "information" affects voter preferences. In fact, the intent is not to measure public opinion but to manipulate it-to "push" voters away from one candidate and toward the opposing candidate. Such polls defame selected candidates by spreading false or misleading information about them. The intent is to disseminate campaign propaganda under the guise of conducting a legitimate public opinion poll."

Push polls are condemned not only by legitimate professional polling and political organizations including the American Association of Public Opinion Research (http://www.aapor.org/pdfs/2004/pushpolls.pdf), which says they "violate the code of ethics by intentionally lying to or misleading respondents," but also by the American Association of Political Consultants who calls them "an activity which would corrupt or degrade the practice of political campaigning."

Identifying "Push Polls"

Voters can identify push polls by listening closely to the content of the questions and how they are asked. Legitimate political surveys attempt to assess the strengths or weaknesses of a candidate or policy by asking a wide range of questions worded in a clear and neutral fashion. Legitimate polls avoid wording that will bias subjects toward or away from a particular point of view. Push polls, on the other hand, often begin with a series of neutral questions and then about halfway through the survey begin to ask loaded questions, full of negative information about a particular candidate or issue.

For example, a survey might begin with mundane questions, such as "If the election was held today, would you vote for John Kerry, George Bush or Ralph Nader?" Then at some point the questions become tools to deliver information rather than obtain it. A question in this stage might be "Do you agree or disagree. Because John Kerry is against the war, he has flip-flopped."

What Voters and the Media Can Do

Voters should hold candidates who use push polls accountable by not voting for them. Negative campaigning reduces voter turnout and increases voter apathy. If you find yourself in the midst of a survey that seems like a push poll, write down the questions asked, ask the pollster who is paying for the poll, ask for the name of the company making the calls and report the push poll to the media. Tell your friends and colleagues to beware.

Articles and Resources:

Push Polls, Not to Be Confused with Legitimate Polling:
http://www.aapor.org/pdfs/2003/2003pushpollstatement.pdf
National Council on Public Polls: http://www.ncpp.org/push.htm
Public Opinion Strategies: http://www.pos.org/research/pushpoll.cfm

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Susie Byrd is running for City Council in District 2, and would like to challenge all of the candidates for the May 7th Election to sign and abide by the Code of Fair Campaign Practices.