News Orgs Battle Exit Polling Restrictions In N.J.

Exit Polling Currently Banned

The NATIONAL ELECTION POOL, a consortium of six news networks, has filed suit to stop enforcement of a SEPTEMBER 30th NEW JERSEY court decision that would ban exit polling within 100 feet of a polling place.  The group, including AP, FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, asked for a preliminary injunction on constitutional grounds; it alleges that the accuracy and quality of exit polling results decline the further from the actual polling place the exit polls are conducted.

The SEPTEMBER ruling, which held that the restriction is reasonable, was in a case involving the ACLU, which had appealed a state Attorney General's office decision to block the organization from handing out voter's rights cards at the polls.  The court ruling extended the ban on "political activity" to all "expressive activity," prompting the news organization's action.

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