“Public opinion polls, and polls in particular, are an extremely useful tool because they capture the trends in a society at a given time,” the statement said. Association of Survey and Market Research Companies (SEDEA) on what followed the results of the polls and exit poll on elections.

“Polls do not give the result of the election. They capture the moment, and each moment is individual, as it is influenced by many events that take place every day, both in the pre-election period and in the period before it, which the citizens themselves can be convinced of by looking back at the results of recent months,” emphasizes in the message.

“For years, this tool has been heavily contested by public statements specific political groups, in order to deconstruct it. Reality has shown not only in the current, but also in previous elections, that anyone who denies this is trapped in their own history. This year’s elections have once again demonstrated that HIT POLL correctly reflected electoral behaviorwhile public opinion polls satisfactorily record the trends in the development of society, especially in periods of instability, at the European and global level, where structural social changes are taking place. The only deviation in the 100% exit poll from the final election results was the percentage of SYRIZA“, he adds.

And he adds: “With regard to the deviations of the pre-election polls, as well as the exit poll, our first assessment is that they are caused by:

• in the political events of the last days of the pre-election period
• is that, as the exit poll data show, a large number of voters (19%) chose a party on election day and
• based on the assumption that SYRIZA voters, due to the fact that their party widely disputes the polls, did not participate in them and for this reason were underrepresented in opinion polls, as well as in exit polls. With this assumption, weighting the data gave SYRIZA a higher percentage than it ultimately received in the election.

We hope so from now on, the branch is left to do its job without being distracted with the integrity and independence that distinguishes SEDEA members, and that polls are not the result of elections, but a record of society’s trends towards elections.”