Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
Two pieces of content have been published claiming to present polls for mayors in the October 12 local elections in Ferizaj and Lipjan.
The publications were made by the page "New Kosovo” on Facebook on September 24. The posts claim that the poll has resulted in Agim Aliu of the Democratic Party of Kosovo in Ferizaj and Imri Ahmeti of the Democratic League of Kosovo in Lipjan as winners without a runoff.
The truth?
After fact-checking conducted by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that this poll is false.
After conducting online research, hibrid.info did not find any survey published in credible sources with this data (see here and here).
"There will be no runoff in Ferizaj!" is the description of the content in which it is written: "Agim Aliu PDK 57%, Visar Azemi LDK 22%, Enver Haliti LVV 17%, others 4%".
The description with the same claim was also made in the post about Lipjan. “Imri Ahmeti LDK 56%, Shukri Buja PDK 23%, Ilir Qeriqi LVV 18%, others 3%”, are the figures presented in this claim.
About surveys
A survey is a preliminary research to know a situation, opinions or attitudes about something specific. In this statistical method Results are drawn based on the study of a portion of the population, called a sample.
In this specific case, it is not known how many people responded to the survey questions or even when the measurement was taken.
Analyze:
The "Kosova e Re" Facebook page has published two pieces of content falsely claiming to present polls for mayors in Ferizaj and Lipjan on the eve of the local elections on October 12.
These claims are false because they have not been published by any credible source and there is a lack of transparency about the methodology, including samples and timing.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Fake News".
Reasoning:
The “Fake News” rating is given to informational content that is entirely fabricated or that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be defined as having been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.