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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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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We answer voter questions about this year's election season — from early voting to mail-in or absentee ballots.
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Pennsylvania's governor and state legislature — as well as the national political parties and campaigns — have been at odds, leading to election workers doing what they can to help voters keep up. -
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. -
Tens of thousands of ballots have been rejected in key battleground states, where the outcome in November for the presidency and other races could be determined by a small number of votes. -
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. -
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.
