The Virginia Department of Elections said Tuesday that its voter registration website went down on the final day of online voter registration due to a cut fiber cable, WTOP reported.
The fiber cut happened at a Virginia Information Technology Agency data center near Route 10 in Chester, Virginia, according to a Department of Elections statement, per WTOP.
“This morning the Department of Elections was alerted by the Virginia Information Technology Agency that a fiber cut near Rt. 10 in Chester near the Commonwealth Enterprise Solutions Center (CESC) was impacting data circuits and virtual private network (VPN) connectivity for multiple Commonwealth agencies,” the statement read. (RELATED: Microsoft, US Cyber Command Take Down Hacking Scheme That Could Have Caused Election Interference)
“This has affected the Department’s citizen portal along with local registrar’s offices across the Commonwealth. Technicians are on site and working to repair the cut; updates will be provided as work progresses,” the statement added.
JUST IN: Virginia’s online voter registration website went down Tuesday morning on the final day of voter registration because of a cut fiber cable, according to the Department of Elections. Multiple Virginia agencies are affected.https://t.co/CydUzxFKp4
— WTOP (@WTOP) October 13, 2020
A message on the department’s website Tuesday morning said the Citizen portal is unavailable “due to a network outage,” but it provides links for voters to fill out and print paper applications. Virginia voters can still register by mail and applications will be accepted if postmarked by Oct. 13, WTOP reported.
There are 5,825,332 registered voters in the Commonwealth of Virginia as of Aug. 31., according to the Department of Elections.