The polls in Alabama’s special election for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ former U.S. Senate seat close in less than 30 minutes and here’s what the exit polls tell us.
CBS News and NBC News conducted exit polls asking when voters decided whether they would vote for Republican Roy Moore or Democrat Doug Jones. 60% said they had decided before November which would precede the sexual misconduct allegations. Only 39% could have even taken those accusations into account as they decided after the stories surfaced.
A second question of the CBS poll asked if the allegations against Moore were important in their voting decision. 89% of Jones voters said that it was while 86% of Moore voters said it was not.
If 60% of voters made their decisions before November and 89% of Jones voters said it was critical in their decision, then it looks like turnout could be trending in Moore’s favor.
NBC’s exit poll also asked voters why they chose to vote this evening. 29% said they voted to express support for President Donald Trump while 20% voted to express their opposition. 48% said Trump was not a factor in their vote.
ABC released an exit poll asking if the Republican party’s control of Alabama was important to them – they said yes by a 51-43 percent margin giving another hint of a possible turnout advantage for the Republican.
