The NBC News Exit Poll was conducted with voters as they left polling places across the U.S. on Election Day. To account for the high number of early and absentee voters and ensure a sample that accurately represents the ways all Americans cast their ballots nationwide, the exit poll also includes extensive interviews with in-person early voters, as well as telephone surveys to capture absentee voters.
The exit poll was conducted at early in-person voting centers in seven states, an innovation that began in 2018 in only two states. The exit poll has always included telephone polls of absentee voters nationally and in a handful of states with high levels of early voting. This year, telephone polls were conducted in all 11 states that were polled, as well as in the national exit poll.
By the end of Election Day, about 21,000 total interviews had been conducted.
