Why do some recall election polls show Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead while others find Cruz Bustamante ahead?

There are several reasons why polls show different results. The timing of the poll is a key factor, because voters are influenced by the campaign news during the time the survey is conducted. The wording of poll questions also is important. Surveying registered voters will often yield different results than surveying likely voters. Different polls survey widely different numbers of likely voters. Polls that survey more people generally have smaller margins of error than polls that survey fewer people.

Allison Hoffman