FIRST EXIT POLLS IN AN HOUR

CNN says the first exit polls will be out in an hour. The New York Times said this morning:

"In 2004, early exit poll data suggested that Mr. Kerry was ahead began circulating within newsrooms — and leaking out on Web sites, including Slate’s — early in the afternoon on Election Day. This year, the consortium of six news organizations gathering the exit poll data — NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN and The Associated Press — have agreed to keep the information under quarantine until 5 p.m.

"Representatives of those news organizations will begin analyzing that information at a secret location beginning in late morning, but will have to surrender all electronic devices at the door; even restroom visits will be supervised. There were already signs on Monday that the additional security was paying off.

"'We won’t call off exit polls,' Mr. Plotz said, 'in part because we don’t expect to get them leaked to us much before the first results.'"