Battleground state under fire for scheduling voter registration site to go dark same day as Butler rally
Conservatives blasted Pennsylvania’s Department of State this month for scheduling a system maintenance update to its voter registration website the same day former President Trump returned to Butler, where he survived an assassination attempt in July.
The operation would have taken the site offline for several hours during the same time frame the Trump campaign expected to register voters. The department, however, moved the window of time for maintenance to later in the night 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 News Digital reviewed archived data from the Pennsylvania Voter Registration website and found that it issued a disclaimer to voters that the website would be unavailable on Oct. 5 beginning 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p.m. until 12 a.m. We thank you for your understanding.,” the Pennsylvania Voter Registration website stated on Oct. 1, an archived page reviewed by Fox News Digital shows.
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Former President Trump is assisted by U.S. Secret Service personnel after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
Trump announced on Sept. 25 that he would make a historic return to Butler on Oct. 5, months after he was shot in the side of the head by a would-be assassin on July 13. The Pennsylvania Voter Registration website announced its scheduled maintenance sometime between Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, archived data for the site reviewed by Fox Digital shows.
Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump and Pressler sounded the alarm on the scheduled maintenance earlier this month, questioning the timing and slamming the move 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 Facebook on Thursday, accompanied by a screenshot of an Instagram post from Pressler asking if the timing of the maintenance was just a “coincidence.”
Archived records of the website show that Pennsylvania officials updated the page on Oct. 3 – the same day Pressler and Lara Trump publicly posted about the timing of the maintenance – to reflect that the site would undergo maintenance at 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., instead of 6 p.m. until midnight.
Trump was scheduled to take the stage in Butler at 5 p.m. Saturday, meaning the site would have gone dark as he rallied his base and encouraged residents to register to vote.
Pressler joined Human Events’ Jack Posobiec about the matter last week, taking a victory lap that the time was changed to later in the night, following the rally, but added he’s still not “100 percent happy” with the timing of the schedule maintenance. Pressler noted that website updates are typically scheduled for the dead of night, when users are less likely to use the platform.
Former President Trump addresses the crowd at a rally on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he survived an assassination attempt on July 13. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News 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 said.
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Lara Trump also celebrated how the scheduled maintenance moved to later in the night, sharing on Facebook 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 News Digital)
When asked for comment about the maintenance and recent backlash, the Pennsylvania Department of State told Fox News Digital on Sunday that the maintenance was originally scheduled for September before 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 Department of State said in comment.
The website is working as of Sunday morning, and no longer includes the disclaimer for a scheduled maintenance outage. Fox News Digital did not document the site shutting down for maintenance from Saturday evening into Sunday morning, though screenshots of the site posted to social media show the site’s reported error page for maintenance.
A review of the Department of State’s social media shows the website has previously shut down for scheduled maintenance at odd hours during the day, including on June 29 from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. the following day.
People wave signs at former President Trump’s rally in Butler on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
The historic rally in Butler drew thousands as Trump made a return to the same grounds where he was nearly killed, as well as short remarks from tech billionaire Elon Musk who stressed the importance 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 told the crowd on Saturday.
Musk repeatedly encouraged the crowds to get everyone in their social circles and beyond to register and vote come Election Day.
A large crowd waits for the arrival of former President Trump in Butler on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News 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 said.
“Fight, fight, fight, vote, vote, vote,” Musk added, referring to how Trump shouted “fight, fight, fight” to the crowds after he was shot in the ear in July.
