The polls have just closed in the Illinois primary, with media outlets currently calling the result “too early to call” — but suggesting a good advantage for Mitt Romney.
On CNN, the initial calculation of the media consortium’s exit polls suggests an outcome of Romney 45%, Santorum 35%, Gingrich 12%, and Paul 8%.
Exit poll margins must be even more overwhelming than the current projections, in order to immediately forecast a result. In practice, these preliminary numbers are dependent on the willingness of different groups of voters across the state to speak with exit pollsters, and the numbers are then tweaked and corrected as actual vote totals come in.
