Federal judge extends Virginia voter registration deadline

[Yonnie3]

Source: AP


RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A federal judge has extended the deadline for registering to vote in Virginia by 48 hours after the state's online voter registration system went down because of an accidentally severed cable.

Wednesday's order by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. in Richmond is an effort to make up for several hours of lost time on Tuesday, which had been the last day to register before the November general election.

The shutdown of the state's website caused "a tremendous harm" to the people who want to register to vote, Gibney said.

Both the voting rights advocates seeking the extension and the Virginia state officials they sued agreed that more time should be granted. The deadline to register to vote is now 11:59 p.m. on Thursday Oct. 15. It includes both online and in-person registration.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-general-elections-voting-rights-elections-virginia-e5ae0a494e71b6b95c6f552b28c39514

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[more at link]

[Sherman A1]

1. Good

[dware]

2. Nominated by President Obama.

[lagomorph777]

3. Good! I saw Gov. Northam this morning, backing this case.

[csziggy]

4. So a real accident justifies an extension; deliberate incompetence does not

The Florida voter database was incompetently built so that it, the same as the unemployment web site, crashed as soon as there was serious demand on it.

But Florida was not forced to extend their voter registration deadline even though an unknown number of people could not register when the site crashed.

[Yonnie3]

5. Democrats in state offices make a difference

They filed a brief with the judge that said they agreed with an extension.

Did the Florida problems end up in court?

[csziggy]

6. Yes, some groups in Florida sued and lost

A Judge Won't Reopen Voter Registration In Florida After The Website Crashed But Said The State "Failed Its Citizens"

"To these potential voters, the state’s answer for its own failures can only be characterized as 'so sad, too bad,'" Judge Mark Walker wrote.
Zoe Tillman Zoe Tillman BuzzFeed News Reporter
Washington, DC
Posted on October 9, 2020, at 12:09 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — A federal judge won't reopen voter registration in Florida after the state's website crashed on the final day, but he used his order on Friday to eviscerate state officials for how they had handled the situation.

"This case is about how a state failed its citizens," US District Judge Mark Walker wrote.

Hours before registration was set to end in Florida at midnight on Oct. 5, the website crashed. Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee blamed "unprecedented" traffic, saying they recorded 1.1 million access requests per hour that night. Shortly after noon the next day, Lee announced that they had extended the deadline to 7 p.m. Voting rights groups immediately sued in federal court to reopen registration in Florida, a major battleground in this year's presidential election.

Walker on Friday denied the request for an injunction to extend the registration period, writing that Florida's lawyers had convinced him that the state's handling of the election was already so problematic that it couldn't handle more uncertainty. He cited affidavits that the state filed in court that "paint a disturbing picture of overworked elections staff, incomplete voter rolls, and election-day mayhem."

More: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/judge-roasts-florida-voting-registration-after-website-crash

[Yonnie3]

7. Thank you

I see the state fought an extension.

"This case is about how a state failed its citizens," said the judge, but it is really how a Republican state government failed its citizens.

[csziggy]

12. The Republicans have been failing (and ratfucking) Florida since 1999

When Jeb Bush got in. He was only the second Republican governor of FLorida since the Civil War. Claude Kirk was the first - and the people of Florida dumped him after one term. Unfortunately Jeb was able to totally screw up the state and get Republicans in control of the entire government so it has been impossible for Democratic candidates to get elected.

As usual, Republicans want to prove that government doesn't work - especially when they are in charge.

[Yonnie3]

13. I looked over the history after my comment

Specifically the table at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_Florida and the blue disappears for the most part after 1999 as you said.

[csziggy]

17. Yes, and ever since the Florida Democratic Party has been weak and ineffectual

It's a shame - there are a LOT of dedicated Democrats in this state, but the party just doesn't seem to care. In the race against Rick Scott they never used his past against him. If the Seniors had known about his Medicare fraud, they would not have been so willing to vote him into office. Every race since the 1998 loss they have basically thrown the race. I tried to volunteer after the 2004 election, but they would not let me. They only take on paid staffers between elections.

I know we are not supposed to speak against any branch of the Democratic Party but when I see them throwing races, year after year, they need some criticism.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. It makes sense, so

where is the lawsuit from Republicans trying to block the extension?

[Yonnie3]

9. VA GOP ...

can't even file election paperwork on time, so filing a lawsuit in less than 24 hours is too difficult.

Perhaps they have written off Virginia

[onetexan]

10. Bravo!! K&R

[TomCADem]

11. The Anti-Freedom and Democracy Supreme Court May Reverse

Because that is what Republican appointees do.

[George II]

14. When I heard that the cable was "accidentally" severed, I wondered. Funny that happened....

....on the last day of online registration.

[Upthevibe]

16. Good News....

.......

[spike jones]

18. This could give the GOP "reason" to challenge the VA votes after the election. n/t