The last day to register to vote in Virginia is today. But due to a fiber optic cord getting mysteriously severed, the state’s website for online voter registration is currently down.
On Tuesday morning, the state’s IT agency reported that a “fiber cut” near a data center in Chester, Virginia, had disrupted connectivity to multiple state offices. Among those affected is Virginia’s Department of Elections.
“This has affected the citizen portal along w/ registrar’s offices,” the department tweeted, later adding: “Technicians are on site and working to repair; updates will be provided as work progresses.”
The same portal is used by local residents to apply to vote absentee, view their polling places, and check their absentee ballot status.
The outage is also creating headaches for early in-person voting in the state, which began on Sept. 18. “The statewide voter registration system is currently DOWN. This means that any voter coming to vote early in-person can not be checked in on the poll books and will only be able to vote a provisional ballot,” tweeted Albemarle County, Virginia.
It’s unclear what caused the fiber optic cut, but the incident is shaking trust in the state’s election systems. A few internet users are now accusing the election offices of voter suppression.
In the meantime, the portal to register to vote online has been telling users the site currently remains unavailable and to check back later. As an alternative, users in Virginia can download a registration form, print it out, and mail it to their local registrar, so long as it’s postmarked by today. Applications can also be submitted in person at registrar office, but must be done by 5 p.m. today.
Virginia’s Department of Elections didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. So it’s unclear if the deadline to register to vote will be extended due to the IT outage.
Last week, Florida's voter registration website went down amid heavy traffic on the final day it was accepting applications. That deadline was extended by a few hours, but a judge declined to allow for a longer extension.