News Archive

Professor Michael J. Pitts commented for a story in the New York Times on the Voter ID ruling. A federal appellate court kept the law in place, but ordered a lower court judge to come up means to minimize the impact on people who do not have government-issued IDs or who cannot easily obtain one. The story was published July 21.

Professor Pitts has studied the use of provisional ballots provided to voters who are stopped from casting traditional votes because they lack the ID needed. A total of 5.4 million votes were cast in the presidential elections in 2008 and 2012, and 1,753 people cast provisional ballots, Pitts said in the story. Of that number, 206 were finally counted.

“I don’t think there are clear answers about how well these measures work,” Pitts said in the news story.

Professor Pitts is a Dean’s Fellow and a well-known expert in election law. In addition to teaching a course in election law, he also teaches civil procedure and evidence. Prior to joining the legal academy, he practiced as a trial attorney in the Voting Section of the United States Department of Justice.