KERRY ELECTORAL VOTE PROJECTIONS
from State-Level Poll Data
1-Nov-2004
  number of states Total Electoral Votes  
Bush  > 55% 17 133 Bush total:  
Bush  50-55% 13 145 278  
Kerry 50-55% 9 92 Kerry total:  
Kerry > 55% 12 168 260  
  51 538  
polls used in estimate: beginning ending  
10/27/2004 11/1/2004
 
     
    Estimated Kerry Vote Share   estimated probability of Kerry win if election held now*
 
 
 
state EV stdev
   
AL 9 43.1% 2.2% 1.0%
AK 3 34.0% 5.2% 1.0%
AZ 10 46.8% 1.8% 1.0%
AR 6 49.6% 7.3% 46.1%
CA 55 56.6% 0.9% 99.0%
CO 9 46.5% 3.0% 1.0%
CT 7 58.6% 2.1% 99.0%
DE 3 56.6% 0.7% 99.0%
DC 3 90.5% 0.2% 99.0%
FL 27 50.0% 1.1% 47.2%
GA 15 45.3% 3.3% 1.0%
HI 4 59.5% 1.6% 99.0%
ID 4 31.4% 6.1% 1.0%
IL 21 56.5% 1.7% 99.0%
IN 11 42.2% 2.7% 1.0%
IA 7 50.6% 2.7% 67.3%
KS 6 40.1% 2.6% 1.0%
KY 8 44.2% 5.1% 1.2%
LA 9 46.8% 4.9% 9.9%
ME 4 53.0% 3.8% 94.5%
MD 10 58.5% 0.1% 99.0%
MA 12 64.5% 1.4% 99.0%
MI 17 52.8% 1.8% 99.0%
MN 10 51.9% 4.1% 81.7%
MS 6 41.8% 2.7% 1.0%
MO 11 49.6% 3.7% 41.5%
MT 3 39.6% 7.8% 1.0%
NE 5 35.1% 2.5% 1.0%
NV 5 48.8% 1.7% 7.4%
NH 4 49.5% 2.3% 31.7%
NJ 15 57.4% 2.7% 99.0%
NM 5 51.1% 2.6% 80.4%
NY 31 62.9% 1.3% 99.0%
NC 15 44.5% 2.7% 1.0%
ND 3 36.1% 5.1% 1.0%
OH 20 48.5% 2.3% 9.3%
OK 7 39.3% 3.5% 1.0%
OR 7 51.5% 3.0% 83.3%
PA 21 52.8% 1.8% 99.0%
RI 4 65.5% 1.5% 99.0%
SC 8 42.3% 2.4% 1.0%
SD 3 40.1% 5.4% 1.0%
TN 11 48.9% 2.2% 16.8%
TX 34 40.7% 5.0% 1.0%
UT 5 28.9% 5.1% 1.0%
VT 3 56.0% 3.6% 99.0%
VA 13 46.0% 1.3% 1.0%
WA 11 53.9% 2.6% 99.0%
WV 5 48.7% 6.4% 34.6%
WI 10 50.3% 2.3% 59.4%
WY 3 32.6% 8.7% 1.0%
   
     These projections are calculated from state-level poll data.  Methodology:  Throughout, I work with the ratio Dem/(Rep+Dem), ignoring fringe and third-party candidates.  For the elections of 1980-2000, 1992-2000 (a/o 21oct), I calculated the mean, correlation and covariance of each state's vote with every other state's vote.  This permitted me to compute "alpha" and "beta" for all 2550 (51^2 - 51) pairs of states, as if I had regressed each state's vote on each other state's vote.  Then I calculated the ratio Kerry/(Bush+Kerry) for the most recent state-level poll as reported on www.electoral-vote.com.  Plugging the poll data ratio into the equation alpha + beta*ratio yields a projection of one state's vote given another state's vote.  Regression theory provides that the projections are the "best" (i.e. minimum variance within the class of unbiased estimators) that the data will allow.  (Details can be found in any econometrics text.  I recommend Pindyck and Rubinfeld.)  
     For example, if the most recent poll in Wisconsin yields Kerry 45, Bush 45, others 10, then the relevant fraction for Kerry is 1/2.  To project Iowa's popular margin given the assumption that that is how Wisconsin votes, I find the "alpha" and "beta" corresponding to "Iowa vote given Wisconsin vote."  Plugging the value 1/2 into the equation gives a projection of the Iowa vote.  I do this for each poll published during the most recent five days for which I have data (ordinarily the data is one or two days behind today's date).  I use the median for each as my estimate, and estimate a standard deviation from the interquartile range.   *I plug these numbers into the cumulative normal distribution to generate the probabilities (except that I limit them to the interval [0.01,0.99]).
posting date: 11/6/2004      
  data source:  http://www.electoral-vote.com/  
Copyright (c) 2004 by Stuart Eugene Thiel.  All Rights Reserved.