Statewide Florida Voters' Site Crashed on Morning of Election Day

On the morning of a hotly contested national election, the Florida Department of State's website for Florida voters to track their voter registration status crashed.

As of a little before 8:30 a.m. on November 5, the site, registration.elections.myflorida.com/en/CheckVoterStatus, was not operational. Florida voters attempting to look up their voter registration status and precinct information were confronted with a message that read: "An error has occurred. Please try again."

As of 10:30 a.m., the site still was not working. It returned to normal sometime before 12:50 p.m.

Trying to verify your voter info on Election Day? Leave it to Florida to have a massive site crash. Too convenient… @RonDeSantis @CordByrd pic.twitter.com/GHXpK2q1xR

— Mike Rivero (@MikeRivero_FL) November 5, 2024

Results varied for voters attempting to access their information via the website of their home county.

Miami-Dade's site, for example, was down for a time but was working at 10:30 a.m. Broward County was slow to respond but operational.
 
When Miami-Dade County voter Heidy Torres called the state's division of elections, she says the department confirmed that the website was down. Voters seeking their polling place and other information were instructed to call the office and wait on hold.

"Today, on Election Day, I spent hours trying to help friends check their voter status to ensure they could exercise their right to vote, but we couldn't access Florida's voter information website," Torres tells New Times. "Multiple friends tried, and the website was down for all of us. When I called the Division of Elections, they confirmed the website was indeed down but had no clear plan to inform voters they needed to call for their information."

Torres calls it "unacceptable," given the stakes of the presidential election and statewide matters such as abortion rights in Florida.

"For many voters, this website is the only way to confirm their status, polling location, or other vital details," Torres adds. "This kind of disruption on Election Day effectively discourages participation and amounts to voter suppression. Our state must do better to ensure every voter has the resources they need to cast their ballot."

Last month, many counties' election websites across the state were also not working on the first day of early voting.