poll

In the legal and colloquial sense, the word poll is frequently used in the context of elections. In this context, poll refers to either:

• The process of voting
• The place where the voting is conducted, or
• The result of the voting.

With respect to national elections, such as the presidential and congressional races, various organizations (e.g., the Pew Research Center) will survey public opinion before the election to get a better sense of the outcome. FiveThirtyEight is a website that compiles and analyzes the data collected by these various organizations.

In the legal sense, poll is also used in the context of juries in criminal cases. In federal court, Rule 31 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure allows any party or the court to request a poll, or survey, of the jurors after the jury returns the verdict and before the jury is discharged. The court decides the manner of polling the jury. However, as the Court in Government of the Virgin Islands v. Hercules stated, courts cannot simply rely on the jurors’ signatures on the verdict slip. Because the jury poll aims to ensure that the jury reached a unanimous verdict free from coercion, the manner of polling the jury must give jurors the opportunity to declare their agreement or disagreement with the verdict in open court.

Other common legal phrases that use the term “poll” include:

• Poll taxes, which states used to impose on their voters. To vote, citizens were required to pay a fixed tax. The 24th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits poll taxes.
• Straw polls, which are ad hoc, non-binding polls. Straw polls are used as a type of informal “dry run” to determine voters’ opinions on an issue. A person may use a straw poll to adjust their message or to facilitate discussion and negotiation with others. 

[Last reviewed in September of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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