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winner. Early evening network broadcasts continued to project election winners from
1976 to 1984, usually before polls closed.
Following the 1984 election, US Congressmen Al Swift (D-Washington state),
co-chair of the House Election Task Force, and Bill Thomas (ranking R- California),
committee member, sought the network news division presidents assurances that they
would adhere to a policy of waiting until a state closed its polls before announcing the
winner. They also urged the network news executives to abandon “projection” or any
other analysis that “hinted” at the state’s winner. Over strenuous objections from news
producers and correspondents who argued against making any pact with Congress that
would surrender the independence of news gathering to government control, the network
news executives agreed. In 1985, the US House of Representatives passed legislation for
closing polls at a uniform time. The same legislation was passed in the next two sessions
of Congress, but the Senate failed to vote on it. However, in 1989, the Senate Rules
Committee approved a uniform poll-closing bill that differed slightly from the House
version.
The news media remained concerned about the pact with Congress regarding
election coverage and began to challenge the states’ anti-exit polls laws that had been
enacted following the 1984 election. In 1988, the New York Times and The Herald of
Everett, Washington, filed a lawsuit against the State of Washington and its Secretary of
State Ralph Munro, a staunch attacker of exit polls. Prominent First Amendment
attorney, Floyd Abrams, lead the case. Washington State Federal Judge Jack Tanner
stated:
. . . the state would have to show that exit polls were disruptive
to peace, order, and decorum at the polling place for him to uphold
Convention