Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
Two pieces of content have been published claiming to present the results of exit polls on support for political entities in Kosovo, on the day of the parliamentary elections (Sunday, December 28) until 11 am.
One piece of content was published by a Facebook page called "Shadërvanit", while the other was published by the page named "Premium Newspaper".
What's wrong with this content?
This content was published prematurely, violating the law that prohibits the distribution of exit poll results during election day, and in addition, it is not based on confirmed credible sources.
What are exit polls?
Exit polls are surveys conducted by interviewing voters immediately after they leave the polling station. To predict the outcome of an election in a given district, a sample of smaller electoral units (such as polling stations) is selected, and at least one interviewer is assigned to each selected polling station. The interviewer follows a predetermined system (e.g., every third or fifth voter) and gives the voter a questionnaire to complete himself, while maintaining privacy and confidentiality (see here).
Law in Kosovo
According to Article 88 of The Law on General Elections, polling stations open at 7:00 AM and close at 19:00 PM.
Article 52 of this law, paragraph 2, on the Prohibition of Media Involvement, stipulates that no publication or broadcast of the results of public opinion research related to the election campaign, including turnout, shall be made in Kosovo during the period beginning twenty-four (24) hours before the official closing of polling stations and until the conclusion of the electoral process.
Some of the country's television stations have announced the publication of exit poll results after the hour when polling stations are expected to close. These television stations have also made public the names of the companies that will conduct the measurements (see here and here).
The contents discussed, apart from being published prematurely, one of them lacks data on the company conducting the measurements, while the other mentioned an American company named "UGBA", for which, based on previous treatments, no data was found online that a company with the name in question or acronym exists, and that deals with measuring public opinion (see here).
Analyze:
Content that claims to present exit poll results is not reliable.
They were published before the closing of polling stations, violating the law, and do not provide verifiable data on the companies that conducted the measurements, which makes the information unconfirmed.
Therefore, 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.