In Virginia, voter registration is down after a wire was “accidentally” cut. It’s all good though, there’s still plenty of time for-
What’s that?
It’s the last day for voters to register?
...Well, shit.
The Hill reports a fiber optic cable was cut that affected data circuits and VPN connectivity for various agencies, including the citizen’s registration portal and registrar’s office. The Virginia Department of Elections tweeted that technicians were currently on site, working to repair the wire. They didn’t give an estimated time frame for when the repairs would be complete.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) has called for the voter registration deadline to be extended as a result of the “accident.”
“I am officially calling for Virginia’s Registration Deadline to be extended beyond today due to the service outages impacting voters’ ability to register statewide. We will work with the Administration to resolve this issue and ensure all voters have access to [vote],” Fairfax tweeted.
This isn’t the first time that Virginia’s voter registration systems have gone down at a pivotal moment. In 2016, Virginia’s voter registration website went down after too many were trying to access it on the last day to register. According to WTOP, a federal judge extended the deadline by a day and a half to allow folks to register who couldn’t.
While the accident has prevented people from registering to vote, it hasn’t prevented people from being able to cast early ballots. Voters can also still register in person at their local registrar’s office.
“Unfortunately, I’ve got 300 staff sitting around here waiting to mail out absentee ballots and process registration applications who really can’t do anything,” Gary Scott, director of elections, told WTOP. “Everything else has come to a stop,” he added.
Last week, technical difficulties with Florida’s voter registration site resulted in the voter registration deadline being extended by a day. There has yet to be any official word on if Virginia will do the same.
In Texas, the governor limited ballot boxes to just one per county, fake ballot boxes are appearing throughout California, and in New York people reported receiving faulty early ballots.
I’m just saying, between the blatant attempts at voter suppression and frequent “accidents,” it almost feels like there’s an ongoing effort by a certain group of people to maintain power by suppressing the vote.
That would be crazy, though.
I mean, it’s not like Republicans have a history of stealing elections or anything.