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The 2026 Midterms Will Be Uniquely Difficult for Polls

Pew Research Center · Michael Dimock · last updated

Polls haven’t gotten worse, but fake respondents, synthetic AI surveys and election unknowns make the 2026 midterms uniquely hard to poll.

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State of Play

Polls are considered essential to the businesses of politics and journalism. What they contribute to the quality of political journalism is subject to debate. 


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