By Gene J. Koprowski
United Press International

Published 11/2/2004 2:51 PM
CHICAGO, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- An exit poll reported by NationalReviewOnline.com last Friday had President George W. Bush leading Sen. John F. Kerry by 15 points among "those who already voted" in 23 states across the country. Over the weekend, Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe took to the TV talk shows to proclaim his man, Kerry, was ahead by "15 points" in the Democrats' exit polls.Such polls provided by the two major political parties may not be the most accurate gauges of the turnout and the vote count in Tuesday's presidential election, so TV networks and major news organizations tend to rely on their own methodologies.A firm called Edison/Mitofsky, based in Somerville, N.J., is working with ABC News, CBS News, CNN, FoxNews and NBC News to produce a national election pool to provide exit poll analysis and provide projections. Major news organizations also have hired political scientists to help them interpret the data -- before they broadcast or publish it.