The difference between good and bad state polls, explained

A poll released Tuesday conducted by the broadly respected Atlanta Journal-Constitution offered the surprising finding that 54 percent of voters in Georgia support the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, with voters split 47-47 so far on the question of actual removal. …

The bad news for optimistic Democrats is that the fine print on the poll contains a sentence that should be a huge red flag to contemporary consumers of political polling: The data are weighted based on race, age and sex to accurately reflect the demographics of the state.

There’s nothing wrong with weighting your sample based on race, age, and sex to match the demographics of the state. That’s standard practice in the industry. The problem is what the poll didn’t weight on — educational attainment. CONT.

Matthew Yglesias, Vox