Have you been polled?

[Bryan]

I was wondering how often these polls are really done. I didn't get asked once in the last election, but I got at least a dozen such calls between then and the start of this campaign, and I've done four of them during this campaign (two internet, two telephone).

I've heard people say that these things are not as random as they'd have you believe, that they tend to call and recall the same people that they find are "good at being polled", whatever that means. Given that I also do a BBM book almost every year, and I know plenty of people who've never been asked, I'm beginning to wonder if this is true.

[Vancouver King]

If you don't want to be bothered by pollsters - or telemarketers - simply join the wireless wave and remove your land lines. We did that a year ago and no one has had an unsolicited call yet.

Apparently master lists of prospects numbers don't include 3 digit area codes assigned to cell companies.

Pollsters stateside have woken up to this bias in their random samples - 15% of US households now communicate exclusively with mobile equipment and these leading edge techies are predominantly non-conservative in their politics.

[cybercoma]

Someone called me last night and the conversation went exactly as follows:

caller: Hi, I'm calling from the campaign office of David Innes, your Liberal Party candidate. Can David count on your support Tuesday?

me: Certainly not.

caller: Oh. [long pause] Ok then. [hangs up]

Does that count?

[Bryan]

Someone called me last night and the conversation went exactly as follows:

caller: Hi, I'm calling from the campaign office of David Innes, your Liberal Party candidate. Can David count on your support Tuesday?

me: Certainly not.

caller: Oh. [long pause] Ok then. [hangs up]

Does that count?

I've gotten a few of those as well, but that's not what I'm talking about.

[independent]

Someone called me last night and the conversation went exactly as follows:

caller: Hi, I'm calling from the campaign office of David Innes, your Liberal Party candidate. Can David count on your support Tuesday?

me: Certainly not.

caller: Oh. [long pause] Ok then. [hangs up]

Does that count?

I say know to all the parties.

[Topaz]

My phone went like this...this is ???? I couldn't make what he said at first. Then he said are you 18 or old, are you going to vote, who are you supporting? I never thought of it until it was too late but I should have hit"last call" on the phone and got the number and then maybe find out who called.

[Oleg Bach]

I got polled the other day. I did not like the intrusion. They know who you are and they have the nerve to ask you who you will vote for...I really don't want my name in a data base when civilization goes south...and...I am deemed an ememy of the state in a possible very unpleasant Orwellian future...I said as to my vote (I could have sworn that democracy was based on the secret ballot) ----- none of your buisness and they hung up...Then I got polled again by a person that sounded over medicated...they asked me if I was going to vote liberal - and I said in a sly voice "of course" - they knew I was full of it and they hung up also.