Online poll, what does it show?

Wow, 365 people voted on The Recorder’s recent online poll, asking people if California should be a Sanctuary State.

That is close to double the average of about 200 per week.

Thank you to everyone who went to www.recorderonline.com and voted.

The poll on the website has been around for years now and the questions are timely.

But what information can be gleaned each week from the voting?

It’s difficult to say because one never really knows how accurate it is and who is really voting. Being a website devoted to a specific town and region in Tulare County, would lead one to believe online visitors are from Porterville or have ties to it, but again who really knows.

Also Porterville is a town with over 50,000 people so a couple of hundred votes online is just a drop in the bucket.

For instance, based on Recorder polls, it appears voters are more liberal. One might infer then that Porterville is left leaning.

But based on elections, when people of voting age cast actual paper ballots that is not the case in Porterville and Tulare County. In the recent presidential election, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won California by a wide margin, nearly 2-to-1, over then Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Voters in Tulare County favored Trump 51 percent to 42 for Clinton.

It doesn’t stop there. Tulare County and Porterville are both known for their conservative stances on most everything from gun control to water to the environment.

So, why are the poll results showing something different?

Maybe someone has found a way to cheat the system. It’s anybody’s guess.

We are just glad people are taking the time to vote