An entrance poll is a

poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Figurative head counts * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling places ...

that is taken before voters have cast their votes at the polling stations. They are mainly used in caucuses. It is akin to an

opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinio ...

in the sense that it asks who the voter plans to vote for or some similar set of questions. The possibility that the prospective voter might change his mind after the poll is very small compared to that of an opinion poll, therefore the margin of error of an entrance poll is expected to be lower than that of an opinion poll. However, the methodology of conducting an entrance poll is closer to that of an exit poll, where actual voters are being queried as opposed to potential voters in an opinion poll.

Estimates {{otheruses, Estimate (disambiguation) In the Westminster system of government, the ''Estimates'' are an outline of government spending for the following fiscal year presented by the cabinet to parliament. The Estimates are drawn up by bureaucra ...

provided by entrance polls can be obtained more quickly than those of exit polls because the people can be questioned earlier. However, they are also possibly subject to a higher margin of error as early voters are given a higher preference than in exit polls. Furthermore, entrance polls are based upon a future event, meaning there is always the possibility that a voter may change his or her mind between being asked questions for an entrance poll and then actually voting.

References

Elections Types of polling {{Election-stub