Virginia residents have until 11:59 p.m. Thursday to register to vote.
U.S. District Court Judge John Gibney Jr. ordered that registration be extended beyond Tuesday’s deadline after a cut fiber line near the state’s Commonwealth Enterprise Solutions Center in Chester took down the voter registration website for hours Tuesday.
“You can’t go back in time and register people,” Gibney said.
Gibney gave his ruling after the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, representing several advocacy groups, filed a complaint asking that the deadline be extended.
The outage began when the line was “inadvertently struck as part of activities related to a Chesterfield County roadside utilities project,” according to the Virginia Information Technology Agency.
The cut fiber impacted multiple other agencies Tuesday, including local county registrar’s offices, which were temporarily unable to check in in-person voters.
Residents may register to vote here.
