How the poll was conducted
Results of a poll based on 800 interviews will vary by no more than 3.5 percentage points, plus or minus, from the overall population 95 times out of 100. Margins are larger for groups within the sample, such as Democrats and Republicans, and income groups.
The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents is 38 percent Democrats, 31 percent Republicans and 31 percent independents or other.
Sampling error does not take into account other sources of variation inherent in public opinion surveys, such as nonresponse, question wording or context effects. In addition, news events may have affected opinions during the period the poll was taken.
Readers can e-mail questions to djmcgrath@startribune.com.
Dennis J. McGrath
about the writer
Our mission this election cycle is to provide the facts and context you need. Here’s how we’ll do that.