Conservatives blasted Pennsylvania’s Division of State this month for scheduling a system upkeep replace to its voter registration web site the identical day former President Trump returned to Butler, the place he survived an assassination try in July.
The operation would have taken the location offline for a number of hours throughout the identical timeframe the Trump marketing campaign anticipated to register voters. The division, nonetheless, moved the window of time for upkeep to later within the night time amid an early outcry.
“The PA State Department voter registration website will be unavailable on Saturday, October 5th, the day that President Trump will be triumphantly returning to the site of the assassination attempt in Butler County, PA. W/ all eyes on PA, the site will be down. Coincidence?” GOP activist Scott Pressler posted to Instagram on Thursday.
Fox Information Digital reviewed archived information from the Pennsylvania Voter Registration web site and located that it issued a disclaimer to voters that the web site could be unavailable on Oct. 5 starting at 6 p.m.
“This website will undergo scheduled system maintenance and be unavailable Saturday, October 5 from 6 p.m. until 12 a.m. We thank you for your understanding.,” the Pennsylvania Voter Registration web site acknowledged on Oct. 1, an archived web page reviewed by Fox Information Digital exhibits.
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Former President Trump is assisted by U.S. Secret Service personnel after gunfire rang out throughout a marketing campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
Trump introduced on Sept. 25 that he would make a historic return to Butler on Oct. 5, months after he was shot within the aspect of the top by a would-be murderer on July 13. The Pennsylvania Voter Registration web site introduced its scheduled upkeep someday between Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, archived information for the location reviewed by Fox Digital exhibits.
Republican Nationwide Committee co-chair Lara Trump and Pressler sounded the alarm on the scheduled upkeep earlier this month, questioning the timing and slamming the transfer as election “interference.”
“Wow, they aren’t even trying to hide their blatant interference – appreciate you flagging, @scottpresler – @gop legal is on it and formally requesting the ‘system maintenance’ is moved to a different time,” Lara Trump posted to Fb on Thursday, accompanied by a screenshot of an Instagram put up from Pressler asking if the timing of the upkeep was only a “coincidence.”
Archived data of the web site present that Pennsylvania officers up to date the web page on Oct. 3 – the identical day Pressler and Lara Trump publicly posted concerning the timing of the upkeep – to replicate that the location would endure upkeep at 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., as a substitute of 6 p.m. till midnight.
Trump was scheduled to take the stage in Butler at 5 p.m. Saturday, which means the location would have gone darkish as he rallied his base and inspired residents to register to vote.
Pressler joined Human Occasions’ Jack Posobiec concerning the matter final week, taking a victory lap that the time was modified to later within the night time, following the rally, however added he’s nonetheless not “100 percent happy” with the timing of the schedule upkeep. Pressler famous that web site updates are usually scheduled for the useless of night time, when customers are much less doubtless to make use of the platform.
Former President Trump addresses the group at a rally on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, the place he survived an assassination try on July 13. (Matthew McDermott for Fox Information Digital)
“It was clear that the Pennsylvania Department of State was engaging in election interference, trying to stop all of this national attention from translating into new voter registrations,” Pressler mentioned.
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Lara Trump additionally celebrated how the scheduled upkeep moved to later within the night time, sharing on Fb Thursday, “And just like that, we got PA to move it. Great example of what happens when citizens demand fairness.”
Eric and Lara Trump arrive on stage for former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox Information Digital)
When requested for remark concerning the upkeep and up to date backlash, the Pennsylvania Division of State advised Fox Information Digital on Sunday that the upkeep was initially scheduled for September earlier than it was rescheduled for Oct. 5.
“The voter registration system maintenance on Oct. 5, 2024, was scheduled on Sept. 17, 2024. It was rescheduled to take place from 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5 until 4 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6, to accommodate county election officials who are spending additional weekend time to ensure each of the 67 counties is ready for Nov. 5, 2024,” the Division of State mentioned in remark.
The web site is working as of Sunday morning, and not contains the disclaimer for a scheduled upkeep outage. Fox Information Digital didn’t doc the location shutting down for upkeep from Saturday night into Sunday morning, although screenshots of the location posted to social media present the location’s reported error web page for upkeep.
A evaluation of the Division of State’s social media exhibits the web site has beforehand shut down for scheduled upkeep at odd hours through the day, together with on June 29 from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. the next day.
Individuals wave indicators at former President Trump’s rally in Butler on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox Information Digital)
The historic rally in Butler drew 1000’s as Trump made a return to the identical grounds the place he was practically killed, in addition to brief remarks from tech billionaire Elon Musk who burdened the significance of registering to vote.
“I think it’s the most important election of our lifetime. This is no ordinary election. The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech. They want to take away your right to bear arms… They want to take away your right to vote effectively,” Musk advised the group on Saturday.
Musk repeatedly inspired the crowds to get everybody of their social circles and past to register and vote come Election Day.
A big crowd waits for the arrival of former President Trump in Butler on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox Information Digital)
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“And honestly, you want to just be a pest. Just be a pest to everyone. You know, people on the street everywhere,” he mentioned.
“Fight, fight, fight, vote, vote, vote,” Musk added, referring to how Trump shouted “fight, fight, fight” to the crowds after he was shot within the ear in July.
