Monday, October 15, 2018 is the last day to register to vote in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As the day began, however, voters attempting to update their registration ran into website problems.
Multiple Virginia voters (who had voted in recent elections) sent PJ Media screenshots of their attempts to update their voter registration. Both received the message, “Record Not Found.”
At least two Virginia voters have sent me screenshots of the @vaELECT website crashing when they attempted to use it. The site fails to find any records for these voters, who have voted in Virginia recently. This is a huge problem, since today is the last day to register to vote pic.twitter.com/7ho4PqF37Q
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) October 15, 2018
The Department of Elections (DoE) responded to PJ Media’s requests for comment with a statement added below.
“Today is Virginia’s voter registration deadline,” tweeted Alex Diener. “The website for checking voter registration (http://vote.elections.virginia.gov ) is apparently not working, and its failure mode was to make it look like I’m not registered. What a disaster.”
Today is Virginia's voter registration deadline. The website for checking voter registration (https://t.co/zK30vq5a41) is apparently not working, and its failure mode was to make it look like I'm not registered. What a disaster.
— Alex Diener (@ThemsAllTook) October 15, 2018
Jen Alluisi spoke with someone in the DoE, who admitted the website had crashed. “Heads up, Virginia friendos – the VA DoE check-your-voter-registration form is buggy today (per a DoE person I spoke to),” she tweeted. “If you check and it says you’re not registered, call your local registrar.”
Heads up, Virginia friendos – the VA DoE check-your-voter-registration form is buggy today (per a DoE person I spoke to). If you check and it says you're not registered, call your local registrar. https://t.co/sBb2zONMIM
— Jen Alluisi 📎 (@scorpstar77) October 15, 2018
John Stange, a member of the #Resistance, also reported problems, sharing a screenshot of his attempt to update his registration, with the message, “Record Not Found.”
“Virginians: Voter registration website is having problems. Most people I know, all registered, are showing up ‘record not found’. Confirmed mine on the phone,” Stange tweeted. “So it’s deadline day, and the voter registration site is at least partly busted.”
Virginians: Voter registration website is having problems. Most people I know, all registered, are showing up "record not found". Confirmed mine on the phone.
So it's deadline day, and the voter registration site is at least partly busted. #Virginia #vapol pic.twitter.com/ezd6aVKzNt
— John Stange (@williamdingiv) October 15, 2018
The problem appears to be regional, as some voters did not experience any issues. I am a Virginia resident and voter, and I was able to log in just fine.
A similar malfunction took place in September. “Alert: The Virginia Department of Elections is currently experiencing issues with their public website. If you are trying to check your voter registration info, you may experience ‘not found.’ They are working to resolve. ASAP!” the Arlington Elections Office tweeted.
Alert: The Virginia Department of Elections is currently experiencing issues with their public website. If you are trying to check your voter registration info, you may experience "not found." They are working to resolve. ASAP!
— Arlington Elections (@ArlingtonVotes) September 21, 2018
Around 1 p.m., the DoE reported that it had solved the registration issue around noon.
.@vaELECT resolved the issue over an hour ago.
— Arlington Elections (@ArlingtonVotes) October 15, 2018
UPDATE:
Shortly after this story’s publication, the DoE responded to PJ Media’s requests for comment.
“This morning we experienced intermittent issues with the registration lookup feature on our website,” Andrea Gaines, director of community relations & compliance support at the Virginia Department of Elections, told PJ Media. “We diagnosed and resolved the matter quickly. Online registration was not affected.”
This story will be updated with any further developments.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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