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Election websites crash in Florida, Pennsylvania as deadlines loom

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Sara Swann
By Sara SwannOct 06, 2020
Sara Swann

As a staff writer, Sara covers a variety of democracy reform issues, including voting rights, money in politics, gerrymandering and civic education. Prior to joining The Fulcrum in May 2019, Sara reported on local government on Maryland's Eastern Shore for the USA Today network. She is a native West Virginian and a graduate of Syracuse University.

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As important deadlines drew near, state election websites in two presidential battlegrounds have crashed in recent days, leaving voters unable to access online services.

Pennsylvania's site was down over the weekend, and Florida's online system seized up on Monday, the state's registration deadline. Both sites have since been restored, and Florida on Tuesday allowed people to continue signing up to vote until 7 p.m. (Pennsylvanians have another two weeks to register.)

Because the vote totals in both are expected to be extremely close, and because Florida (with 29 electoral votes) and Pennsylvania (with 20) will be central to deciding the presidency, they have seen as much litigation (filed by both parties) and scrutiny from voting rights groups as any state.

Florida's GOP secretary of state, Laurel Lee, tweeted Monday evening that due to a high volume of traffic on the voter registration website, users had been experiencing delays for about 15 minutes. Toward of the end of the day, the site was accessed by an unprecedented 1.1 million users every hour, she said.

But voting rights advocates were quick to point out that this is not the first time the state's online election systems have failed at a critical time. It also happened on the last day to register for the 2018 midterm election.

This time, Juan Peñalosa, executive director of the state Democratic Party, suggested without evidence that the system had been taken down on purpose, tweeting that the Florida GOP's "suppression machine is in full effect."

But Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on the announcement that the online and by- mail registration deadline had been extended a day.

Pennsylvania's site was down most of the weekend, with officials reporting services were restored Monday morning. Democratoc Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar blamed the outage on an equipment failure at a data center. She said there was no evidence of malicious interference and no data had been lost.

The deadline to register in Pennsylvania is Oct. 19, and voters have until Oct. 27 to request an absentee ballot. This is the first year with no-excuse mail voting in the state.

While all the online voter services, including registration and mail ballot applications, have been restored, other agencies, such as Human Services and the Liquor Control Board, are still experiencing problems. State officials said they are working with the contractor, Unisys, to fix any remaining issues.

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Declaration of Independence
When, in 2026, the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we should take pride in our collective journey.
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What Exactly Does "All Men Are Created Equal" Mean in the Declaration of Independence?

I used to think the answer was obvious; it was self-evident. But it's not, at least not in today's political context. MAGA Republicans and Democrats have a very different take on the meaning of this phrase in the Declaration.

I said in my book, We Still Hold These Truths: An America Manifesto, that it is in the interpretation of our founding documents that both the liberal and conservative ideologies that have run throughout our history can be found. This is a perfect example.

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Defending Democracy in the Heart of Democracy - Washington, D.C.

The Crisis in Our Capital

Washington, D.C. is at the center of American democracy. Yet today, its residents — taxpayers, veterans, workers, families, people like you an I, American citizens — are being stripped of their right to self-government. The recent surge of out-of-state National Guard troops into the District under federal order has highlighted a deep flaw in our system: D.C. does not have the same authority to govern itself that the 50 states enjoy.Keith

We are told this militarization is about “public safety,” but violent crime in D.C. is near a 30-year low . What we are witnessing is not a crime-fighting measure, but an unprecedented encroachment on local authority. The consent of the people — the foundation of democracy — is being sidelined to pursue a political or even personal agenda.

The Ethical and Constitutional Problem

Legally, a president can request National Guard support through interstate compacts. But legality is not the same as legitimacy. True democracy requires consent, not unilateral fiat. Under the Home Rule Act, federal control over D.C. is only supposed to last 30 days in emergencies. Yet the use of state-based National Guard units circumvents this safeguard and seems to demonstrate a hidden agenda. This is a loophole — one that undermines D.C.’s right to self-governance and sets a dangerous precedent for federal overreach.

An Urgent Legislative Answer

It is not enough to critique the abuse of power — we must fix it. That is why I have drafted the D.C. Defense of Self-Government Act, which closes this loophole and restores constitutional balance. The draft bill is now available for public review on my congressional campaign website:

Read the D.C. Defense of Self-Government Act here

This legislation would require explicit, expedited approval from Congress before federal or state National Guard troops can be deployed into the District. It ensures no president — Republican. Democrat or Independent — can bypass the will of the people of Washington, D.C.

This moment also reminds us of a deeper injustice that has lingered for generations: the people of Washington, D.C., remain without full representation in Congress. Over 700,000 Americans—more than the populations of several states—are denied a voting voice in the very body that holds sway over their lives. This lack of representation makes it easier for their self-government to be undermined, as we see today. That must change. We will need to revisit serious legislation to finally fix this injustice and secure for D.C. residents the same democratic rights every other American enjoys.

The Bigger Picture

This fight is not about partisan politics. It is about whether America will live up to its founding ideals of self-rule and accountability. Every voter, regardless of party, should ask: if the capital of our democracy can be militarized without the consent of the people, what stops it from happening in other cities across America?

A Call to Action

When I ran for president, my wife told me I was going to make history. I told her making history didn’t matter to me — what mattered to me then and what matters to me now is making a difference. I'm not in office yet so I have no legal authority to act. But, I am still a citizen of the United States, a veteran of the United States Air Force, someone who has taken the oath of office, many times since 1973. That oath has no expiration date. Today, that difference is about ensuring the residents of D.C. — and every American city — are protected from unchecked federal overreach.

I urge every reader to share this bill with your representatives. Demand that Congress act now. We can’t wait until the mid-terms. Demand that they defend democracy where it matters most — in the heart of our capital — because FBI and DEA agents patrolling the streets of our nation's capital does not demonstrate democracy. Quite the contrary, it clearly demonstrates autocracy.

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Remember when loyalty oaths were used to ferret out and punish people suspected of being Communists? They were a potent and terrifying tool, designed to produce conformity and compliance at the height of the late 1940s, early 1950s Red Scare.

Today, they are back, but in more subtle, if no less coercive, forms. The Trump Administration is using them in hiring and retaining federal employees, in dispensing federal grants, and in passing out perks.

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