Why People Lie About Having Voted for Obama

A lot of people are lying about having voted for President Obama. A recent Wall Street Journal poll gives Obama a 50%-39% edge over John McCain—a big bump over his actual 7% victory. A New York Times survey shows Obama winning with a nearly 2-to-1 margin. That’s a remarkable number, but don’t get too excited; this always happens, Christopher Beam writes for Slate.

Lots of people who didn’t vote are loath to tell pollsters so, especially because they’ve usually just answered a bunch of other questions about politics. And they’re more likely to say they voted for the guy who won, especially if he’s doing well. If things go poorly? Well, let’s just say that in 2006 polls, more people said they voted for John Kerry than George Bush. (More poll numbers stories.)