California Exit Poll Clipboards

Volunteers wield these clipboards across California polling sites to capture raw voter exit poll responses. Will Bailey phones the data straight from them into the Roosevelt Room, where Sam, C.J., Toby, Larry, and others absorb the shock of unexpected Democratic strength. Staff reference the clipboards' scribbled tallies during their scramble from celebration optics to crisis triage.

1 appearances

Purpose

Recording voter exit poll responses for real-time election analysis

Significance

Delivers jarring data that upends victory assumptions, yanking senior staff from party planning into urgent electoral firefighting and amplifying election night tension

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S4E7 · Election Night

Tone, Optics, and an Unsettling Exit Poll

The California exit-poll clipboards are invoked as the raw data source Will's volunteers are using; they symbolize grassroots sampling that contradicts expectations and prompt Sam to order regular check-ins with the field.

Before: In the hands of volunteer teams at California precincts collecting exit responses.

After: Still in the field; their tallies have been reported to Will and relayed into the Roosevelt Room for interpretation.

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