Learning
Student Zimmerman works exit polls during March primary
Elise Zimmerman, a Muskingum University political science major of Groveport, distributed and tallied exit poll surveys on behalf of Edison Research during the primary and state primary election last March. She worked outside of the First Baptist Church of West Lafayette precinct for Coshocton County.
Zimmerman was given the opportunity to distribute surveys after Dr. Richard Arnold, Muskingum University associate professor of political science, shared the opportunity during class. She was interested in seeing how and why people voted. “Being a political science major, I really care a lot about the voting system,” said Zimmerman. “That’s exactly what the survey asks. It was an anonymous survey, so I don’t know who was answering what, but I did get to see overall trends.”
An aspect of the job she enjoyed was viewing the trends at her precinct in comparison to official results. Zimmerman recognized the results she tallied from the surveys were “very close to the actual Ohio Primary results.”
Zimmerman feels the experience was worth-while and helped direct her toward what she wants to do post-graduation this December. She is open to working exit polls come Election Day She hopes to pursue a career focused on human rights and “the progression of society.” “I think that [this experience] even reinforced that I want to do activism,” said Zimmerman.
