Colombia suspends election poll amid inaccuracy concerns

Colombia’s top election authority, the National Electoral Council (CNE), suspended the publication of a major poll in response to concerns over its alleged lack of accuracy.

In a ruling, decreed the “immediate suspension and temporary ban on the publication, broadcast, and dissemination of election polls by the polling firm AtlasIntel and the media outlet Semana magazine.”

The ban followed the publication of multiple polls that were criticized because they allegedly failed to uphold industry standards in regards to the accurate representation of society’s different sectors.

Consequently, the AtlasIntel polling results showed major discrepancies compared to those of rival polling firms.

The suspension was recommended by a commission of expert statisticians, which seeks to promote accuracy and prevent the inflation of candidates’ popularity through skewed polling.

AtlasIntel CEO Andrei Roman rejected the suspension and stressed his company’s track records abroad and ahead of primaries that were held in March of this year.

If our polls at Atlas Intel weren’t high-quality, robust, and scientifically sound, we wouldn’t have built the track record that has allowed us to be the most accurate polling firm in two consecutive election cycles in the United States, in three cycles in Argentina, and in this year’s primaries in Colombia.

AtlasIntel CEO Andrei Roman

The ban on AtlasIntel comes a week after GAD3, a Spanish pollster, suspended its activities amid fears that a ban on their polls would harm the reputation of the company and its publisher, television network RCN.

Invamer, which does polling for television network Caracol, is also being investigated for failing to uphold industry standards.

The increased scrutiny is part of the implementation of a new electoral law that seeks to guarantee the accuracy of polls that claim to be representative of Colombian society.

The law was adopted unanimously by Congress last year, despite objections by the pollsters that claimed the law infringed on their freedom of speech.

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المصدر: Colombia Reports