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1 1 (January 23, 2001)

handle is hein.crs/crsahmo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS20762 Updated January 23, 2001 Election Projections: First Amendment Issues Henry Cohen Legislative Attorney American Law Division Summary Media projections may be based both on exit polls and on information acquired as to actual ballot counts. The First Amendment would generally preclude Congress from prohibiting the media from interviewing voters after they exit the polls. It apparently would also preclude Congress from prohibiting the media from reporting the results of those polls. Congress, could, however, ban voter solicitation within a certain distance from a polling place, and might be able to include exit polling within such a ban. It also might be able to deny media access to ballot counts, either when the polls have not closed in the jurisdiction whose votes are being counted, or when the polls have not closed across the nation. When the media project the winner of an election before the polls close, some people who otherwise had planned to vote might decide not to vote. If enough such people would have voted against the projected winner, then their decision not to vote could affect the result in the election. Media projections, then, might indirectly affect the outcome of an election, and some have suggested that Congress therefore ban them. Media projections may be based both on exit polls and on information acquired as to actual ballot counts completed up to the time of the projections. The First Amendment would preclude Congress from prohibiting the media from interviewing voters after they exit the polls. At most, Congress might be able to include exit polling within a more general prohibition on voter solicitation within a certain distance from a polling place. We consider this point in Section II of this report. The First Amendment apparently would also preclude Congress from prohibiting the media from reporting the results of exit polls. Congress, therefore, apparently could not ban media projections outright. Could Congress, however, deny media access to ballot counts, either when the polls have not closed in the jurisdiction whose votes are being counted, or when the polls have not closed across the nation? Could it, in other words, prohibit governmental officials who are counting votes fromreleasing election results? We consider that question in Section III of this report. Congressional Research Service CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web The Library of Congress

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