Conservatives criticized the Pennsylvania Department of State for scheduling maintenance on its voter registration website the same day former President Trump returned to Butler, where he survived an assassination attempt. The operation would have taken the site offline for several hours during a time when the Trump campaign expected to register voters, but the maintenance was rescheduled to later in the night following an early outcry. Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump and GOP activist Scott Pressler questioned the timing of the maintenance, calling it election interference.
Archived data from the Pennsylvania Voter Registration website showed a disclaimer that the website would be unavailable on Oct. 5 beginning at 6 p.m. Trump announced his return to Butler on the same day he was shot by an assassin on July 13. Pressler and Lara Trump raised concerns about the scheduled maintenance, prompting the Department of State to update the timing from 6 p.m. to midnight to 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Trump’s rally was scheduled for 5 p.m., meaning the site would have gone dark as he encouraged residents to register to vote.
Pressler took a victory lap after the time was changed, although he was not completely satisfied with the scheduling of the maintenance update. He believed that the Pennsylvania Department of State was trying to interfere with the election by preventing new voter registrations during a time of national attention. Lara Trump also celebrated the change in timing, calling it an example of citizens demanding fairness. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
The Pennsylvania Department of State’s website was back online on Sunday morning, with no indication of a scheduled maintenance outage. However, screenshots posted on social media showed an error page for maintenance during the expected time frame. The Department of State’s social media showed previous instances of the website shutting down for maintenance at odd hours during the day. Trump’s rally in Butler drew thousands of supporters, as well as remarks from Elon Musk emphasizing the importance of registering to vote and participating in the upcoming election.
Musk stressed the significance of the election, urging the crowd to register and vote. He encouraged individuals to be persistent in getting others to register and vote, echoing Trump’s message of “fight, fight, fight” after surviving the assassination attempt in July. The historic rally in Butler marked a significant moment as Trump returned to the site where he was shot, with thousands in attendance. The overall message of the rally was to encourage voter registration and active participation in the upcoming election.
