HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — There are 17 days remaining from Election Day. As the date is closer to arriving, more polls will come out. However, the reliability of the polls has been questioned recently.

Polls provide a snapshot of public opinion. Due to the area and amount of people that are surveyed, one political analyst says you should take the results of these polls with a grain of salt. 

“You should consider polls as what I like to call nowcast, not a forecast, a ‘nowcast’; it is a snapshot right here of a specific sample of people you’re asking, right so there; it could be different tomorrow if you have a different group of people. So long story short, they are fairly accurate, but there are discrepancies between polls,” said Dr. Benjamin Melusky with Old Dominion University. 

Each poll takes random voters from the community to try to get an accurate view of how people will be casting their votes. 

“Polls do take into account what will take place and the likelihood of individuals that will vote for a candidate. That’s why you have predictions from the polls that are fairly accurate,” said Dr. Eric Claville with Norfolk State University. 

Even if the polls are accurate, both political analysts agree that the accurate numbers will be revealed on Election Day. 

“Polls are only a prediction, but they don’t actually win the election. Voters win the election,” said Dr. Claville. 

Now, while polls help influence a candidate’s strategies, they do not always impact a voter’s decision.

“[It] helps to drive up donations. It helps to shape narratives. Then, you have polls that are collected by nonpartisan groups that are out there,” said Dr. Melusky. 

Dr. Claville says this does not mean polls do not matter. 

“There is a phenomenon that happens in the polling booth where you’re there and you’re voting. You’re unsure about a candidate, and using the last thing that you see or hear as an advertisement or have a discussion about them really pushes you over the brink to vote for the candidate that you vote for,” said Claville. 

October 25th is the last day to request an absentee ballot by mail or online. Requests must be received by your voter registration office by 5 pm.