Election Calls

Relying on "clearly flawed" methods, television networks made mistaken early calls in the November presidential election.

The pressures to be competitive, to be first in making calls, even when polls hadn't closed in a state "can, may and probably did have an effect on the outcome of the some of the elections," said Rep. Billy Tauzin, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee at a press conference Wednesday.

Citing reports that the CBS, ABC, CNN, NBC and Fox television networks had commissioned addressing the election night debacle, Tauzin said that he would be holding hearings on the issue of calling races before all polls have been closed.

"There were clearly flawed data models and clearly statistical biased results produced from that flawed data," he told reporters. "Our investigation found there does appear to be clear evidence of statistical, although unintentional bias in the VNS modeling system – a bias that consistently tended to favor Democrats generally."

He went on to add that models used by VNS – a consortium hired by the networks – used models that had "not been significantly updated in thirty years" and "probably did have significant impacts on the actual outcome of some elections."

Some Republicans have charged that an early call for Al Gore in Florida came before all the polls in that state were closed. Many feel that as a result, viewers didn't bother going out to vote.

Tauzin noted that the networks all were in agreement about not calling a race before all polls in a state closed. And he added that "we should consider the possibility of a uniform closing time." He said that he and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) would be pushing legislation to enact uniform poll closings for federal elections.

"Our purpose," he said, "is not to legislate content in broadcasting – we would fight that vigorously if anyone proposed it. We may need to change some election laws to accommodate" these changes.

He also warned, "We both have credibility at stake here. We both need to do our jobs properly, ethically and fairly as we can."

Representatives from CBS, ABC, CNN, NBC and Fox have agreed to appear before the panel next week. An official from VNS will also be in attendance.

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