A worked example of how Integrity Polling reports a horse-race poll, with every ballot-qualified candidate named.
By Integrity Polling research staff
Sample data. This release is a demonstration of our reporting template. No survey was fielded. Every number on this page is illustrative.
If the election for governor were held today, for whom would you vote?
Likely voters, n = 1,012. Candidate order rotated. All four ballot-qualified candidates read by name.
Whiskers show ±3.4 percentage points, the margin of sampling error.
Integrity Polling, Sep 14–18, 2026. n = 1,012 likely voters. Question Q3.
Candidate favorability
Likely voters. Rows sum to 100 across favorable, unfavorable, and never heard / no opinion.
Integrity Polling, Sep 14–18, 2026. n = 1,012 likely voters. Question Q5–Q8.
Most important issue facing the state
Likely voters. One response accepted; list rotated.
Integrity Polling, Sep 14–18, 2026. n = 1,012 likely voters. Question Q9.
The race is close, and we say so. Delgado’s four-point edge among likely voters is only slightly larger than the poll’s ±3.4-point margin of sampling error, which applies to each candidate’s share. The margin on the difference between two candidates is roughly twice that. The honest summary is “Delgado narrowly ahead, within the range where a different sample could show a tie,” not “Delgado leads.”
Nine percent of likely voters chose a candidate other than the two major-party nominees. Alicia Park’s 7 percent is more than the gap between the leaders. A poll that offered only Delgado and Reed and bucketed everyone else as “other” would have hidden the single most consequential fact about this race: the outcome likely depends on where Park’s voters land, or whether they stay with her.
Independents are the swing, and they are not undecided so much as unaligned. Among independent and other registrants, 15 percent back Park and 10 percent are undecided. Both candidates have more room to grow with this group than with their own partisans, who are already north of 85 percent consolidated.
The geography is familiar. Delgado leads by 26 in metro counties, the two are close in the suburbs, and Reed leads by 28 in rural counties. Nothing in the regional pattern is surprising, which is one reason we flag it: when the geography of a poll looks like the geography of the last election, the sample is at least plausible.
This page exists to show the template, not to inform a real campaign. Everything we promise in the Integrity Standard is on this page:
The headline question broken out by group. The CSV includes every question and the unweighted n for every column.
| Response | Democrat | Republican | Independent / other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maria Delgado (D) | 89% | 5% | 38% |
| Thomas Reed (R) | 4% | 86% | 31% |
| Alicia Park (L) | 2% | 5% | 15% |
| Devon Okafor (G) | 3% | 0% | 4% |
| Another candidate | 0% | 1% | 2% |
| Undecided | 2% | 3% | 10% |
| Unweighted n | 368 | 351 | 293 |
Bold marks the largest share in each row. Columns may not sum to 100 because of rounding. The overall margin of error is ±3.4 points; subgroup margins are larger and grow as the unweighted n shrinks.
Exactly as respondents heard or read it. Bracketed text is interviewer instruction. Rotations are noted where they occurred.
Are you currently registered to vote at your current address?
Respondents answering No or Not sure were thanked and the interview ended.
How likely are you to vote in the November general election for governor? Would you say you will definitely vote, probably vote, that the chances are about 50-50, that you probably will not vote, or that you definitely will not vote?
Likely voters are respondents who said they will definitely or probably vote, plus 50-50 respondents with a record of voting in two of the last three general elections.
If the election for governor were held today and the candidates were [ROTATE: Maria Delgado, the Democrat; Thomas Reed, the Republican; Alicia Park, the Libertarian; Devon Okafor, the Green Party candidate], for whom would you vote?
Every candidate who had qualified for the general-election ballot as of the first day of fielding was read by name, in rotated order. Undecided respondents were not asked a leaner question; we report the undecided share as is.
How certain are you of your choice? Would you say you are certain, or that you might change your mind before the election?
Asked of respondents who named a candidate in Q3.
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Maria Delgado, or have you never heard of her?
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Thomas Reed, or have you never heard of him?
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Alicia Park, or have you never heard of her?
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Devon Okafor, or have you never heard of him?
Q5–Q8 asked in the same rotated order as the ballot test.
Which one of the following is the most important issue facing the state today? [ROTATE LIST]
Demographic items: age, gender, race and ethnicity, highest level of education, county of residence, party registration confirmation, and 2024 presidential vote. Exact wording is in the questionnaire download.
Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding. The margin of error for subgroups is larger than the overall margin. In addition to sampling error, question wording, order and practical difficulties in fielding surveys can introduce error or bias; we publish every question in the order asked so you can judge for yourself.
Paste this into your page. The frame stays current if we issue a correction, and always links back to the full release.
<iframe src="https://integritypolling.com/embed/sample-statewide-governor-ballot-test/" title="Demonstration release: a statewide gubernatorial ballot test — Integrity Polling" width="100%" height="440" style="border:1px solid #E4E0EA;border-radius:8px" loading="lazy"></iframe>In this illustrative pilot, the Institutional Trust Index reads 41 on a 0–100 scale and the Representation Index reads 31. Local election officials are the most trusted institution tested; Congress the least. Thirty-eight percent of adults say neither major party represents them.
After hearing a neutral description, 58 percent of U.S. adults support letting voters rank candidates in order of preference. Nearly two-thirds say independent and third-party candidates should face the same signature requirements as major-party nominees.