Pam Fessler
Pam Fessler is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where she covers poverty, philanthropy, and voting issues.
In her reporting at NPR, Fessler does stories on homelessness, hunger, affordable housing, and income inequality. She reports on what non-profit groups, the government, and others are doing to reduce poverty and how those efforts are working. Her poverty reporting was recognized with a 2011 First Place National Headliner Award.
Fessler also covers elections and voting, including efforts to make voting more accessible, accurate, and secure. She has done countless stories on everything from the debate over state voter identification laws to Russian hacking attempts and long lines at the polls.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Fessler became NPR's first Homeland Security correspondent. For seven years, she reported on efforts to tighten security at ports, airports, and borders, and the debate over the impact on privacy and civil rights. She also reported on the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, The 9/11 Commission Report, Social Security, and the Census. Fessler was one of NPR's White House reporters during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Before becoming a correspondent, Fessler was the acting senior editor on the Washington Desk and NPR's chief election editor. She coordinated all network coverage of the presidential, congressional, and state elections in 1996 and 1998. In her more than 25 years at NPR, Fessler has also been deputy Washington Desk editor and Midwest National Desk editor.
Earlier in her career, she was a senior writer at Congressional Quarterly magazine. Fessler worked there for 13 years as both a reporter and editor, covering tax, budget, and other news. She also worked as a budget specialist at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and was a reporter at The Record newspaper in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Fessler has a master's of public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree from Douglass College in New Jersey.
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Thousands of mail-in ballots routinely arrive without a postmark or with one that isn't legible. Election officials have to decide whether to count those ballots and under what circumstances. -
It is not clear why the invitation has not been accepted, but those familiar with the exchange say the delay is unusual, considering that absentee ballots will go in the mail as soon as September.
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President Trump has stepped up his assault on both mail-in voting and the U.S. Postal Service. He stated that without additional money to fund both, Democrats will be unable to expand mail-in voting.
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Drop boxes have been used in some states for years, and their use is expanding as more voters cast absentee ballots. But the Trump campaign and some Republicans say they're not secure enough.
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With about 100 days left before Election Day, election officials warned this week that they need money from the federal government to deal with the pandemic and long-standing cybersecurity threats. -
A new NPR analysis has found that at least 65,000 mail-in ballots have been rejected during primaries held so far this year, because they arrived too late — often through no fault of the voter.
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An NPR analysis finds that more than 50,000 absentee and mail-in ballots were rejected this year for arriving late. While it's a relatively small number, they could prove crucial in a close election. -
The former Pennsylvania governor tells NPR that he worries the president is hurting his own cause by talking down absentee voting because in many cases, it helps Republicans. -
The grant program is scheduled to run through this year's election and continue to the 2022 midterm races. Organizers say they want to sign up and mobilize more black and Latino voters. -
Recent primaries have exposed an overtaxed voting system and raised questions about how much can be fixed by November.
