This Supersimple Video Explains the Truth About Presidential Polls

Recent polling numbers suggest Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are nearly neck and neck. While Clinton has a slight edge over Trump, according to an average of polls provided by Real Clear Politics, the unanticipated tight race has people concerned. But polls are often unreliable. Here's where We the Voters, a film series on understanding the election process, comes in with a video that breaks down why you should be skeptical of the constant barrage of poll numbers.

The video is conversation between Clare Malone and Harry Enten, both writers for Five Thirty Eight. The website was created by analyst Nate Silver, who correctly predicted the 2008 and 2012 elections. Using a few analogies, Malone and Enten expose three main flaws with polling.

The first problem is that some polls are sponsored by private entities with explicit biases. It would be unwise to fully a trust a poll that was paid for by someone with a direct interest in the poll's results. Another issue with polls is sampling. Polls should ideally question a representative sample of the population but instead many test a homogeneous group of people with likely similar opinions. Malone and Enten use soup as an example; if you are only skimming the top when you try it, then you're probably only tasting broth. When you stir the soup, you get a representative sample of the entire recipe.

Lastly, the order of questions in polls matter. Some polls can lead the respondent to a biased answer because the preceding questions will have wording or phrases that affect their response to the question. Looking at numbers from places like Real Clear Politics does eliminate some of these issues, simply because they take an average of all the polls, but the average still remains tied to potentially biased polls. The gist? Polls should be read with caution until "the ultimate poll" is conducted on Nov. 8.