Straw poll

The first polls were elections held by counting heads, for pol, polle in Middle English simply meant “head.” One still goes to the polls to cast ballots in elections. The first so-called “straw” or unofficial polls were held in the United States in 1824. They consisted chiefly of man-in-the-street interviews or door-to-door canvassing by newspaper reporters. Since the mid-1930s, with debacle of the Literary Digest mail poll, which predicted a victory for Landon over Roosevelt, techniques have been greatly improved. Now, such polls as the Gallup, Harris and Roper surveys are used not only to gauge probable election results but also to test public reaction to new products and the like.