U Of I’s Election Analytics Predict Clinton Win, US Senate Up For Grabs

Statistics are playing a larger role in election coverage than ever before.  Websites like Five Thirty Eight and Upshot from the New York Times analyze opinion polls to predict the winner in the race for the White House, as well as US Senate races.  Those websites have a strong track record of predicting winners, but there’s a site on the University of Illinois Urbana campus that’s done even better.

Illinois Public Media’s Brian Moline spoke with U of I computer science professor Sheldon Jacobson, who is the director of the Election Analytics program on campus, about how their program differs from some others, and how it got started in 2008.

The U of I’s Election Analytics show the state of Illinois comfortably in the Democrats’ column in the races for both president and US Senate.  Jacobson says it would take some sort of “game changing” event in the presidential campaign for Donald Trump to have a reasonable chance at winning nationally, especially since early voting has already begun in many states.

Jacobson says the Election Analytics website will be updated daily through the November 8 election.