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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The flurry of last-minute legal action comes as more than 5 million people have already cast ballots, causing some confusion over what voters have to do to ensure that their votes count.
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Republicans are recruiting tens of thousands of poll watchers, saying that Democrats are trying to "steal" the election. Democrats and civil rights groups worry it could lead to voter intimidation.
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In a tight Senate race in Maine, opponents of Republican Sen. Susan Collins are focusing on her role in crafting a 2006 law that they say has crippled the U.S. Postal Service's finances.
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Other states will begin doing the same over the next few weeks in an election that's expected to break all records in the number of ballots cast early and by mail.
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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.
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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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A slew of primary elections that were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic are underway Tuesday. But in addition to the virus, election officials now have to grapple with civil unrest.
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The push to expand mail-in voting during the pandemic has led to a new legal battle between political parties and related interest groups. The conflict might have a major impact on upcoming elections.
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Both parties are turning to the courts to try to ensure that election rules don't disadvantage their side. The litigation campaign has taken on a new urgency amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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The money is far less than the $4 billion some Democrats had wanted. It would allow states to expand mail-in and early voting, online voter registration and help secure in-person voting sites.