About Carter

Carter Walker is an experienced government and politics reporter who has written about elections, campaigns, politics, legislative bodies, and everything in between. His work has been cited by major news outlets, such as The New York Times, and government institutions, including the January 6th Committee. It has served as the factual basis for policy changes, lawsuits, and proposed legislation. His reporting has won or been a finalist for numerous state and national awards, including the 2023 Livingston Award for Young Journalists and the 2024 Pacesetter Journalism Award for election administration reporting.

A native of Pennsylvania, Carter grew up in the Philadelphia collar-county region, but has ties to central and western Pennsylvania, as well. In high school, he worked as a reporter on his student newspaper and earned the rank of Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America. After graduating, he attended Penn State University, where he pursued a degree in journalism while also working as an editor and reporter at The Daily Collegian.

He landed his first professional job as a reporter at The Times West Virginian in Fairmont, West Virginia, where he covered courts, crime, and local government. He wrote two stories a day while also pursuing in-depth and investigative work.

In 2018, Carter returned to Pennsylvania and began covering county government and politics for LNP|LancasterOnline. In this role, he provided daily coverage of the county government, including its people, policies, and politics. He also broke major stories on how county funds were being used, working conditions inside county offices, the behavior of elected officials, and intra-party squabbles in the local Republican Party. During this time, he became an expert in using open records laws to acquire information. Following the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, he was promoted to investigative reporter covering democracy issues. In this role, he uncovered the activities of local and national extremists, tracked and built sources in secretive groups, debunked election misinformation, and covered how these forces intersected with Pennsylvania’s politics.

In 2022, Carter joined Votebeat, a new newsroom from Civic News Company focused on covering voting and election administration issues. Here, he has covered every aspect of Pennsylvania’s elections. His intimate knowledge of the state’s electoral system and vote-counting process has enabled him to report on these complex subjects with ease and explain them clearly for all readers. His reporting on this beat has been recognized with numerous awards, and he frequently makes appearances on television and radio stations to explain the day’s election news. In 2026, he was promoted to senior reporter.

When he’s not at his desk, in an election office, or driving around chasing down a story, he can usually be found in the woods hiking and exploring nature.