Florida extends voter registration deadline after "unprecedented" traffic slowed website
Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee extended the state's voter registration deadline to Tuesday evening after heavy traffic on Monday night caused its online registration system to crash.
The new deadline for Florida voters to register is now Tuesday, October 6, at 7 p.m. ET.
Lee said in a statement that she met with Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday morning to discuss "the difficulties we encountered last night due to unprecedented volume and traffic to our website."
"We are working with local Supervisors of Elections and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to ensure that all eligible registrants have the ability submit a voter registration application by 7:00 p.m. this evening," Lee said.
According to Lee, the state's voter registration website was accessed by an "unprecedented" 1.1 million requests per hour, raising concerns about election interference.
"We will work with our state and federal law-enforcement partners to ensure this was not a deliberate act against the voting process," Lee said. "If you are NOT registering to vote, we ask that you do your part for your fellow Floridians and please do not try to access RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov during this time and drive up traffic to the site."
Lee also ordered county supervisors' offices, departments of motor vehicles offices and tax collectors' offices to remain open until 7 p.m. today to accept voter registration applications. Applications will also be accepted if they are postmarked Tuesday.
Florida is a critical swing state, and considered an important state for President Trump's reelection prospects. CBS News' Battleground Tracker polling and analysis currently suggests Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden holds a slim lead over Mr. Trump in Florida.
LaCrai Mitchell contributed to this report.