Florida residents have more time register to vote in the November election after the state's voter registration system crashed Monday (October 5) due to unexpected traffic.
Gov. Ron DeSantis extended the Sunshine State's voter registration deadline after reports of "unexpected" heavy traffic flooding the system, NBC Miami reported on Tuesday (October 6). The website crashed, possibly preventing thousands of Floridians to register. The original deadline to register was Monday at 7 p.m. EST.
“You can have the best site in the world, but sometimes there are hiccups,” DeSantis said. “If 500,000 people descend at the same time, it creates a bottleneck.” The deadline was extended to Tuesday 7 p.m. EDT.
"In addition to online registration, DeSantis ordered elections, motor vehicle and tax collectors offices to stay open until 7 p.m. local time for anyone who wants to register in person," according to NBC Miami.
State authorities are also investigating the matter, adding that the sudden traffic came in during closing hours. Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee said the system was “was accessed by an unprecedented 1.1 million requests per hour” during the last few hours of Monday. She also tweeted about people experiencing delays and that people had until midnight to register.
"We're exploring all options to ensure that all eligible registrants have the ability to register to vote and will work with our state and federal law enforcement partners to ensure this was not a deliberate act against the voting process," Lee said in a statement. "We will be issuing an update as soon as possible."
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