TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – If you had trouble registering to vote after the state’s website crashed Monday evening and didn’t take advantage of an extension, there’s a chance you may get another opportunity.
A federal judge wants to see hard data on who was impacted by the crash.
With seven hours remaining to register to vote Monday afternoon, the state voter registration website slowed down. Officials said the site received 1.1 million hits an hour for the following six hours.
On Tuesday, the state extended registration by seven hours.
Leon County Elections Supervisor Mark Earley said few complained.
“We only had five complaints on Tuesday about the inability to use the online voter registration portal,” said Earley.
Several voting rights groups filed suits to extend registration even longer.
Federal Judge Mark Walker late Tuesday denied a motion to extend registration. Wednesday morning, he heard from both sides.
Walker told the state he wanted hard data, saying he wanted to “put meat on the bone” asking what was the volume of registrations before and after the crash, how many registered during the extension and more.
Lawyers for the state told the judge they needed all day Wednesday to gather the data that he wanted. They reported that about 40,000 people registered during the seven hour extension.
The judge also also asked for a drop dead date when the state could no longer process registrations for November voting. The state wasn’t sure.
Earley said he didn’t foresee a problem.
“As long as it doesn’t extend too long, of course. We have the ability to process those if they come in,” said Earley.
Depending on how long the registration period is extended, if at all, some voters might now be able to early vote when it opens on the 19th.
The judge will hear the case Thursday morning.