“Father Of Exit Polling” Dies

“Warren Mitofsky, considered by many to be the ‘father of exit polling,’ died of heart failure in New York on Friday. He was 72,” CNN.com says.

“Mitofsky changed the way the media covers elections by pioneering the use of exit polls to project winners in U.S. elections beginning in the 1960s. He also developed many of the telephone polling techniques still in use today. Mitofsky worked for CBS News for nearly three decades before leaving in 1990 to head Voter Research and Surveys, the first network exit poll consortium.”

More: “Since 2003, Mitofsky led the election-night analysis for the News Election Pool, providing exit poll results and election projections in the 2004 primaries and general election for The Associated Press and five TV networks, including CNN. Mitofsky also was a leader of the CNN election night decision team from 1996 to 2002.”