Florida downplays Election Day inability to check voter registration on state website

As Republicans continue to build a raw vote lead with just hours to go until polls close, Floridians were frustrated by the breakdown of a key website for hours on Election Day.

The state’s Voter Information Lookup was for hours showing an error message when voters enter identifying information to see if they are registered.

But a spokesperson for the state of Florida tells people that it’s not an issue.

“Voting operations have not been impacted in any way. The county Supervisor of Elections’ websites are still operable for any voter to look up their registration status. The state’s courtesy website is encountering record-high traffic. Any voter having difficulty utilizing the state courtesy look-up web page should go to their county SOE webpage for the same service,” says Mark Ard, the external affairs director for the Secretary of State’s Office.

The issue, which seems to be resolving based on our check of the site at this writing, arose Tuesday morning, in the wake of Secretary of State Cord Byrd saying that there were no problems with the early Election Day vote.

Florida Democrats said previously this crash on the registration site is no accident.

“Just like when the unemployment site went down during COVID. It is designed to crash,” said FDP Chair Nikki Fried.

Activists decried the dysfunction.

Abdelilah Skhir, senior strategist of the state ACLU, said Florida “must make it a priority to correct this issue.”

“Thousands of voters are looking up their voter information and planning where to vote – this is a delay that interrupts their ability to cast their ballot. With hours left until the polls close, we must ensure that every eligible voter in Florida can participate in the democratic process,” Skhir added.

Amy Keith, executive director of Common Cause Florida, said it was “urgent for voters to be able to find the information they need to vote today.”

“While these websites are down,” Keith added, “voters should call their county supervisor of elections office on the phone to get the information they need before they go vote.”

While the issue seems to have worked out for now, it raised concerns for some hours on the most pivotal of all days.