Today I have another response from a public pollster regarding the disclosure of party identification. I have been asking public pollsters that do not typically disclose the results for the party identification to explain their policy. Today we hear from Susan Pinkus, director of the Los Angeles Times poll:
My predecessors usually did not release this information in the press releases unless it was requested and I just followed the precedent. However, at times, the Times Poll has published party ID figures in poll stories if it was part of the overall analysis. If someone requests it, of course, we are more than happy to give it to them. Having said that, the party ID results were so much in the headlines last year, and so contested by the campaigns (depending if they liked the results of that particular poll or not) that I will probably start putting those figures in the poll’s press release — when it is called for (i.e., during election years or is relevant to the survey’s analysis). Party ID is asked in national polls because of the obvious — not every state is registered by party. In California, however, voters have to register by party or declined-to-state. In state and local Ca. races, we usually only ask registered voter question and not party ID.
Thank you LA Times!
To confirm the willingness of the Times to release party numbers on request: Those who follow this topic closely will recall that in June 2004 an LA Times poll that showed John Kerry leading George Bush came under attack by Matthew Dowd of the Bush campaign. He told ABC’s The Note that the poll was "a mess" because it "is too Democratic by 10 to 12 points" (proving that complaints about party identification do not always come from Democrats). Pinkus responded with a statement and a release of party identification for all polls going back to September 2001.
There is one more public pollster that I asked for a statement that has not yet responded. I’ll post that if and when I receive it.
Party Disclosure Archive (on the jump)
