8 ms·

Virginia voter registration down on last day to register before election

61 points by gkop 6y ago

willvarfar 6y ago
Access Denied You don't have permission to access "http://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/virginia-voter-registration-site-down-on-last-day-to-register-to-vote-officials-say/65-3e5b390b-3e47-4a22-a440-6afddf770f3a http://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/virginia-vo..." on this server. Anyone know what it said?
- m12k 6y ago
  Here you go: https://outline.com/2c97Ca https://outline.com/2c97Ca
- SteveGerencser 6y ago
  It was a cable cut. No internet, no portal, no registration.
- theSIRius 6y ago
  Same here. Maybe it is one of the anti-GDPR mechanisms? Rather than be sure you are compliant or do not want to be compliant, just prevent EU citizens from connecting. Or maybe the site is just down and I am over thinking this.
elric 6y ago
I don't know much about US elections, but from what I've seen in the news the last couple of weeks, I have to say I'm less than impressed. The rest of the world used to see the US as a beacon of democracy. But the country seems to be utterly incapable of organizing fair elections for its populace. Voter registration failures. Voter intimidation. Politicians literally redrawing maps in order to gain an advangate. A president casting doubt on the validity of mail-in ballots. Postal services being (deliberately?) interfered with before an election? What the hell?
- nkozyra 6y ago
  I think you've hit the nail on the head. Perhaps we've skated on good luck so far. I think someone out there identified a bunch of huge (but vague) vulnerabilities in this country's foundation and has started exploiting them at the same time.
- m12k 6y ago
  One of the two major parties has economic policies that are so wildly unpopular (see e.g. https://www.vox.com/21502189/preexisting-conditions-trump-republicans https://www.vox.com/21502189/preexisting-conditions-trump-re... ) that they've resigned themselves to using gerrymandering, bigotry, voter suppression and inherent weaknesses in the US democratic system (votes in rural areas count more when electing presidents and senators) to rule using votes from an angry minority instead of a majority. It doesn't seem sustainable.
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    "Wildly unpopular" ~= 49% of the voters approve [edit for clarity: of the party]. There's truly deeper systemic issues in the United States than the Republican's economic policies.
    - Bud 6y ago
      Your figures are hilariously off, there. If you look at Republican social policies, they're even more off.
      - arcticbull 6y ago
        The Republican platform is remarkably narrow and well defined. They are the party of 'free speech,' God, guns and eliminating abortions. The rest is ancillary to their voters. When you cast your opponents as God-hating, Christmas-fighting, Gun-stealing, baby-killing potheads, people don't really care about your economic policies, they're just voting to stop the anti-Christ. The Democratic tent on the other hand is stretched about as broad as it possibly can be, and they don't really commit to anything. If they cast themselves as too progressive they risk alienating their right flank and the 'centrist undecideds' (I mean my lord who can't make up their mind about this). If they cast themselves as too conservative, they risk alienating the Bernie bros (who IMO swung the election for Trump last time). So, they stand as a big blob. They espouse a kind of wink-wink-nudge-nudge progressivism: no clear support socialized medicine, a refusal to answer questions about court packing, and immigration doesn't even come up. Maybe more DACA? Where we just throw the problem under a rug again, instead of actually addressing it. I personally wish the Democrats were half as progressive as Republicans are trying to make them out to be, but they're not. Not even close. Half of what the Republicans accuse them of I'm like damn, that's solid center to center-left policy, I wish the Dems were on board with that!
kepler1 6y ago
Well, as unfortunate as this is, I mean, accidents and issues do happen in life. Be prepared. There was a whole probably 4 years (at least) to register to vote up to this day. For the prepared, how does one day out of years really matter? It's a sad situation if your voter base is scrambling to register on the last possible day, regardless of party.
- liambuchanan 6y ago
  Voting is for everyone. Not only "the prepared".
- bleeding 6y ago
  The prepared are not the only people whose opinions are relevant to an election.
- dvtrn 6y ago
  Might I suggest the wild and crazy idea that for us “prepared” citizens, who have the means and wherewithal to register instead of chiding those who do not, we look to address the situations where possible to maximize the ability for that class of voter, as is the good and prudent thing to do in a democratic society, Citizen Kepler?
- ianleeclark 6y ago
  Seems like a whole lot of accidents are happening.
- ChomskyNormal4m 6y ago
  > There was a whole probably 4 years (at least) to register to vote up to this day. For the prepared... I moved from one state to another in June. I did not have four years to prepare. I was also not allowed to register immediately, you must reside for some months to register. Also this state has voter suppression to make registration more difficult. They certainly do not have online registration, but they piled on extra Covid difficulties lately. I did manage to register however. What you are saying is ridiculous.
- happytoexplain 6y ago
mabbo 6y ago
I think it's important to be careful before crying foul. Never presume malice when stupidity will suffice. Look at VA right now on 538: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-election-forecast/virginia/ https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-election-forecast/... If polls are accurate, and Nate Silver's models don't fail, it's already been won by Biden. No matter who you suppress from signing up it won't matter- neither party cares about VA anymore. (And yes, those same models said Trump had 'only' a 30% chance 4 years ago to win overall, but they say he's got 1% in VA today. And also 30% is still a huge chance.)
- noja 6y ago
  > be careful before crying foul. I think it's safe to say the current administration has lost the benefit of the doubt.
  - WillPostForFood 6y ago
    The current administration of Virginia is a Democrat governor, with Democrat control of both houses of the legislature.
    - anonuser123456 6y ago
      Why should I let your facts get in the way of my beliefs?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- gkop 6y ago
  I agree it does not look like a conspiracy, just poor infrastructure. That said, this is a general election with consequential down ballot races that are very much in play, even if the presidency is not.
  - Armisael16 6y ago
    Is it poor infrastructure to not have multiple fiber lines inbound to the facility? The roadcrew fucked up and cut a cable.
esquivalience 6y ago
If this is due to being unable to serve the user load during a sudden rush, putting this on the top of HN is a sure way to worsen the issue.
- Bud 6y ago
  It's due to a fiber cut.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
mimikatz 6y ago
It is strange watching average America look at a common IT Issue. There was a Fiber cut. It brought down a network. This happens frequently. Timing sucks, but the average person never sees this so they jump to conspiracies and malicious intent.

61 points by gkop 6y ago

Access Denied You don't have permission to access "http://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/virginia-voter-registration-site-down-on-last-day-to-register-to-vote-officials-say/65-3e5b390b-3e47-4a22-a440-6afddf770f3a http://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/virginia-vo..." on this server. Anyone know what it said?

m12k 6y ago
Here you go: https://outline.com/2c97Ca https://outline.com/2c97Ca
SteveGerencser 6y ago
It was a cable cut. No internet, no portal, no registration.
theSIRius 6y ago
Same here. Maybe it is one of the anti-GDPR mechanisms? Rather than be sure you are compliant or do not want to be compliant, just prevent EU citizens from connecting. Or maybe the site is just down and I am over thinking this.

elric 6y ago

I don't know much about US elections, but from what I've seen in the news the last couple of weeks, I have to say I'm less than impressed. The rest of the world used to see the US as a beacon of democracy. But the country seems to be utterly incapable of organizing fair elections for its populace. Voter registration failures. Voter intimidation. Politicians literally redrawing maps in order to gain an advangate. A president casting doubt on the validity of mail-in ballots. Postal services being (deliberately?) interfered with before an election? What the hell?

nkozyra 6y ago
I think you've hit the nail on the head. Perhaps we've skated on good luck so far. I think someone out there identified a bunch of huge (but vague) vulnerabilities in this country's foundation and has started exploiting them at the same time.
m12k 6y ago
One of the two major parties has economic policies that are so wildly unpopular (see e.g. https://www.vox.com/21502189/preexisting-conditions-trump-republicans https://www.vox.com/21502189/preexisting-conditions-trump-re... ) that they've resigned themselves to using gerrymandering, bigotry, voter suppression and inherent weaknesses in the US democratic system (votes in rural areas count more when electing presidents and senators) to rule using votes from an angry minority instead of a majority. It doesn't seem sustainable.
- arcticbull 6y ago
  "Wildly unpopular" ~= 49% of the voters approve [edit for clarity: of the party]. There's truly deeper systemic issues in the United States than the Republican's economic policies.
  - Bud 6y ago
    Your figures are hilariously off, there. If you look at Republican social policies, they're even more off.
    - arcticbull 6y ago
      The Republican platform is remarkably narrow and well defined. They are the party of 'free speech,' God, guns and eliminating abortions. The rest is ancillary to their voters. When you cast your opponents as God-hating, Christmas-fighting, Gun-stealing, baby-killing potheads, people don't really care about your economic policies, they're just voting to stop the anti-Christ. The Democratic tent on the other hand is stretched about as broad as it possibly can be, and they don't really commit to anything. If they cast themselves as too progressive they risk alienating their right flank and the 'centrist undecideds' (I mean my lord who can't make up their mind about this). If they cast themselves as too conservative, they risk alienating the Bernie bros (who IMO swung the election for Trump last time). So, they stand as a big blob. They espouse a kind of wink-wink-nudge-nudge progressivism: no clear support socialized medicine, a refusal to answer questions about court packing, and immigration doesn't even come up. Maybe more DACA? Where we just throw the problem under a rug again, instead of actually addressing it. I personally wish the Democrats were half as progressive as Republicans are trying to make them out to be, but they're not. Not even close. Half of what the Republicans accuse them of I'm like damn, that's solid center to center-left policy, I wish the Dems were on board with that!

kepler1 6y ago

Well, as unfortunate as this is, I mean, accidents and issues do happen in life. Be prepared. There was a whole probably 4 years (at least) to register to vote up to this day. For the prepared, how does one day out of years really matter? It's a sad situation if your voter base is scrambling to register on the last possible day, regardless of party.

liambuchanan 6y ago
Voting is for everyone. Not only "the prepared".
bleeding 6y ago
The prepared are not the only people whose opinions are relevant to an election.
dvtrn 6y ago
Might I suggest the wild and crazy idea that for us “prepared” citizens, who have the means and wherewithal to register instead of chiding those who do not, we look to address the situations where possible to maximize the ability for that class of voter, as is the good and prudent thing to do in a democratic society, Citizen Kepler?
ianleeclark 6y ago
Seems like a whole lot of accidents are happening.
ChomskyNormal4m 6y ago
> There was a whole probably 4 years (at least) to register to vote up to this day. For the prepared... I moved from one state to another in June. I did not have four years to prepare. I was also not allowed to register immediately, you must reside for some months to register. Also this state has voter suppression to make registration more difficult. They certainly do not have online registration, but they piled on extra Covid difficulties lately. I did manage to register however. What you are saying is ridiculous.
happytoexplain 6y ago

mabbo 6y ago

I think it's important to be careful before crying foul. Never presume malice when stupidity will suffice. Look at VA right now on 538: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-election-forecast/virginia/ https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-election-forecast/... If polls are accurate, and Nate Silver's models don't fail, it's already been won by Biden. No matter who you suppress from signing up it won't matter- neither party cares about VA anymore. (And yes, those same models said Trump had 'only' a 30% chance 4 years ago to win overall, but they say he's got 1% in VA today. And also 30% is still a huge chance.)

noja 6y ago
> be careful before crying foul. I think it's safe to say the current administration has lost the benefit of the doubt.
- WillPostForFood 6y ago
  The current administration of Virginia is a Democrat governor, with Democrat control of both houses of the legislature.
  - anonuser123456 6y ago
    Why should I let your facts get in the way of my beliefs?
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
gkop 6y ago
I agree it does not look like a conspiracy, just poor infrastructure. That said, this is a general election with consequential down ballot races that are very much in play, even if the presidency is not.
- Armisael16 6y ago
  Is it poor infrastructure to not have multiple fiber lines inbound to the facility? The roadcrew fucked up and cut a cable.

esquivalience 6y ago

If this is due to being unable to serve the user load during a sudden rush, putting this on the top of HN is a sure way to worsen the issue.

Bud 6y ago
It's due to a fiber cut.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

mimikatz 6y ago

It is strange watching average America look at a common IT Issue. There was a Fiber cut. It brought down a network. This happens frequently. Timing sucks, but the average person never sees this so they jump to conspiracies and malicious intent.