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House approves bill restricting exit polling to "bona fide" news organizations after sharp debate over access
Summary
Senate Bill 80, which defines exit polling and requires a secretary of state certification for organizations conducting exit polls, passed the House after an hours‑long debate in which lawmakers questioned whether the provision unduly restricts bloggers, academics and civic groups.
The Louisiana House on May 27 approved Senate Bill 80, a measure that narrows who can conduct exit polling at polling places to what the bill defines as "bona fide news gathering organizations," and creates a process for the secretary of state to certify organizations that may conduct such polling.
Representative Brooke Billings carried the bill and told the chamber the language aims to reduce disruptive activity near polling places and to codify accepted norms for exit polling. Under the bill, exit polling is defined as data collection done by bona fide news organizations to gather demographic information and voters' candidate and proposition preferences; it must be conducted in a non‑disruptive manner…
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