A Greek polling company is facing a complaint to the country’s broadcasting regulator over allegations that results from a political survey were circulating before the period in which the company said it was still collecting responses had ended.
The complaint, filed Tuesday with Greece’s National Council for Radio and Television, or ESR, concerns a September survey by polling company Interview. The survey’s methodological disclosure said fieldwork would run from Sept. 23 through Sept. 28, 2026, covering a nationwide sample of 4,928 people aged 17 and older. According to the complaint, however, material containing the survey’s findings was received through a digital messaging application at 11:58 p.m. on Sept. 27—roughly a day before the stated fieldwork period was due to expire.
The complainant submitted screenshots and other digital records that it says show survey graphics being viewed shortly after midnight on Sept. 28. The complaint argues that the timeline raises questions about whether data collection continued for the full period disclosed by Interview and whether the published results accurately reflected the stated methodology.
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The allegations now put the focus on Greece’s regulators and whether they will investigate the chronology and underlying polling data.
The complaint invokes Greek legislation governing opinion polls, which requires polling organizations to disclose key methodological information and conduct surveys impartially and reliably. It also alleges that early circulation of polling results could amount to deliberate voter deception, a more serious claim that would require separate legal scrutiny.
The filing was sent not only to the ESR but also to political parties, judicial authorities, the Greek presidency, the prime minister’s office and professional associations representing journalists and polling companies. Interview is registered with the ESR but isn’t a member of Greece’s Association of Market and Opinion Research Companies, known by its Greek initials SEDEA. The complaint says Interview states that it follows the international ICC/ESOMAR research code.
The controversy intensified after the survey appeared on Greek news website Politic on Sept. 29. The complainant says the published graphics matched those it had obtained late on Sept. 27. It also points to an apparent change in the article’s publication timestamp—from the evening of Sept. 28 to the morning of Sept. 29—as additional evidence that the results had been prepared in advance.
