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Does election polling still have a place in politics?

Those of us who followed the provincial election in British Columbia on Tuesday already know what a wild and crazy night it turned out to be.

For the rest, here is a quick synopsis: The pollsters got it dead wrong.

Every poll conducted in the lead up to Tuesday's vote had the NDP forming government, with Leader Adrian Dix becoming the new premier. Instead, the "floundering" Liberal government increased its power base and formed an even larger majority government.

As Yahoo! Canada's politics blogger Andy Radia points out, this follows on the heels of a complete muck-up in calling the Alberta provincial election as well. It makes you wonder what place polling has in politics today.

[Political Points: Liberals pull off surprise victory in B.C. election ]

One political scientist told Postmedia News that new forms of polling are part of the problem. Online polls and reaching respondents by cell phone, not only are they less reliable they are also easier to ignore. And even if those contacted tdo respond, there is less certainty on how they should be filed demographically.

It seems the easier it is to poll, the less accurate the results.

So we ask: In the age of text messaging and social media, do political polls still matter?