Steven Rosenfeld is the Voting and Elections editor of the Observatory. He is the editor and chief correspondent of the Independent Media Institute’s Voting Booth project.
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A guide on how elections are run and how votes are detected and counted.
By Duncan A. Buell and Steven Rosenfeld in Voting and Elections | Voting Booth Project | English | October 5, 2022
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Steven Rosenfeld is the Voting and Elections editor of the Observatory and the editor and chief correspondent of Voting Booth, a project of the Independent Media Institute. He has reported for National Public Radio, Marketplace, and Christian Science Monitor Radio, as well as a wide range of progressive publications including Salon, AlterNet, the American Prospect, and many others. He has written or co-authored six books on election topics, including the 2021 oral history The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections and Voting Systems: How They Work, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigation (2022).
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Co-authors: Ray McClendon, Gloria Tinubu, Steven Rosenfeld and Mike Hersh | the Independent Media Institute’s Voting Booth project; the Center for Common Ground; Lift Every Voice for Democracy Foundation | February | 2021
The Georgia Way chronicles the way that various grassroots groups and civic engagement organizations in Georgia came together in a relational organizing effort in the 2020 general election and the January 5, 2021 runoff elections. These organizations crisscrossed the state of Georgia in a coordinated effort and made a huge difference in both elections. Some people might ask why is documenting this particular effort important? It is our hope that the content that we produced will not only chronicle what we’ve done in Georgia but also be a guidepost that other battleground states can utilize and expand upon in 2022 and beyond. Every battleground state has the same ingredients available: Divine Nine, NAACP, Prince Hall Masons and Eastern Stars, faith-based organizations, and grassroots activists.
Black and brown people in Georgia put their collective thumbs in the dike to help save democracy in 2020-2021. We now know that Georgia is but one tributary on a groundswell to authoritarianism spreading across our nation. We must rise up in every battleground state to stop this assault. I pray that these writings will help stem the tide. It is also my fervent hope that the relational organizing efforts recounted here will also inspire a greater commitment to year-round investment in the grassroots actions that will be critical to sustaining voter engagement in 2022 and beyond.Media by this author
Interview | November | 2022
Feature | October | 2022
Steven Rosenfeld discusses elections in Georgia on the Laura Flanders Show (PBS).
Interview | February | 2022
Steven Rosenfeld discusses the spate of new election-meddling laws proposed in Arizona.
Interview | January | 2022
Interview | May | 2021
Janine Jackson interviewed Voting Booth’s Steven Rosenfeld about the Arizona audit.
This report explains how the vote-counting pathways in the latest generation of 7 election systems works, their technical vulnerabilities, and some remedies. Its authors have spent years studying elections in complementary spheres. Duncan A. Buell is a lifelong computer scientist and more recently a county election official in South Carolina. Steven Rosenfeld is a national political reporter who has specialized in election administration and voting rights.
The authors believe the public is best served by understanding the interrelated mechanics behind voter registration, casting votes, detecting votes on ballots, and compiling results. Today’s voting systems are layered and complex, and like the people who run them, they are not error-free. Thus, it is important that mistakes, where they occur, are understood, contextualized, and not exploited.