michael d higgins and the plot that worked

A few weeks before Ireland's Presidential elections, the ultra left wing IRA infiltrated Marxian atheist abortionist, contraceptivist, national broadcaster  RTE, financed by compulsory taxation on the citizenry but utterly unaccountable to them, claimed that an opinion poll showed incumbent candidate Michael D Higgins would win 70 percent of the vote.
In the actual election last week only 40 percent of the population voted.
The atheistic abortionist bigoted Marxian anti Catholic Higgins won half of that vote.
That is to say he won the votes of 20 percent of the population whereas RTE had been suggesting he would win 70 percent of the overall eligible vote.
RTE collapsed the potential voting turnout for Higgins' opponents by releasing the nonsense figure claiming 70 percent of the population would vote for him.
How did we get from 70 percent pf the overall population supporting Higgins in an opinion poll to the actual overall percentage of the population who voted for Higgins being just 20 percent?
Because the 70 percent figure was invented.
Come back Vladdie Putin all is forgiven.
Mother Ireland you're rearing them yet.