Elections & terms
margin of error
The range around a poll's result that reflects random sampling error alone. It says nothing about bias, weighting choices, or who refused to answer.
In full
A poll reporting 48 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points means the sampling method would produce a result in that band most of the time. Two candidates within twice the margin are statistically tied. Real polling error is usually larger than the stated margin, because nonresponse and modeling who will actually vote are not captured by it.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.