An “accidentally” cut cable brought down Virginia’s online voter registration system on Tuesday (Oct. 13), which is also Virginians’ last day to register to vote, WUSA 9 reports. According to Virginia Information Technology Agency’s Twitter, technicians are currently working to repair the cut fiber located in Chester.
“Technicians continue to work diligently on a resolution,” the agency tweeted. “The team has learned that the fiber was inadvertently struck as part of activities associated with a roadside utilities project.”
“Due to a network outage, the Citizen Portal is temporarily unavailable,” the Virginia Department of Elections added on their registration website. “We are working with our network providers to restore service as quickly as possible.”
As of 2 p.m. EST, neither agency has been able to announce when the connection issue will be resolved. With today being the last day for voters to register in the state, many Virginians took to social media to express their frustration with the crash. Virginians will reportedly be able to register to vote online once the connection issue is fixed. Otherwise, they can register in-person at their local voter registrar’s office.
Residents will be able to make sure they’re registered to vote through the Virginia Department of Elections Citizen Portal. Amidst the shut-down, the website is currently offering voter applications to download and print. Additional information about registering to vote in the state can be accessed here.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Virginia governor was also named as a potential target of the militia accused of planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. In his shocking testimony, FBI Special Agent Richard Trask revealed that the group of men had discussed “taking” Gov. Ralph Northam during a meeting in Dublin, Ohio this June.
“At this meeting they discussed possible targets, taking a sitting governor [and] specifically issues with the governors of Michigan and Virginia — based upon the lockdown orders,” Trask said, referring to Whitmer and Northam’s COVID-19 safety measures.
Northam’s office said on Tuesday they had been unaware about the alleged potential threat and were only notified through media reports. So far, the governor has not commented publicly on the news nor Virginia’s voter registration outage. However, WAVY TV 10 has reported that he’s looking into his options to potentially extend the state’s voter registration deadline.