Virginia voter registration website crashed before deadline

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s online voter registration portal faced technical difficulties on the last day to register to vote, officials say.

Multiple media outlets report that the Virginia Department of Elections’ online voter registration system slowed down Monday and, at times, became totally unresponsive.

Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cortes says the department was overwhelmed by the record number of people trying to register by the Monday night deadline.

The department said in a written statement that it made website changes to allow voters to meet the deadline. People who were having trouble registering were encouraged to wait a few minutes and try again.

The election is Nov. 8.