Steven Rosenfeld, a national political reporter who has covered democracy issues since the 1990s, created Voting Booth in 2018 to probe what is needed for transparent and accurate elections. Our reporting involves voting, voting rights and technology, which affects who votes, and how votes are cast, counted and verified.
Voting Booth chose this focus as online disinformation was rising and many states were buying new voting systems for the first time in many years. Its early reporting focused on how the new technology could make elections more transparent—and opposition to that use. Our coverage of the Democratic National Committee’s plans to use online voting tools in 2020’s presidential caucuses proved prescient, after breakdowns marred key early contests.
Our 2020 coverage began by assessing the new voting systems debuting in the presidential primaries. After the pandemic broke in March, Voting Booth’s coverage turned to the response, which has been led by a shift to mailed-out ballots. Our priority has been pinpointing key or overlooked problems and the solutions for 2020’s presidential and nationwide elections.
Voting Booth is a project of Independent Media Institute, a non-profit based in New York City. It is supported by foundation grants and private donations.