Conservatives this month criticized the Pennsylvania Department of State for scheduling a system maintenance update to its voter registration website on the same day that 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 that the Trump campaign had scheduled for voter registration. However, authorities changed the maintenance time to midnight after protests began early in the morning.
“The Pennsylvania Department of State's voter registration website will be unavailable on Saturday, October 5, when President Trump returns triumphantly to the scene of his assassination attempt in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Is it a coincidence?” Republican activist Scott Pressler posted on Instagram Thursday.
Fox News Digital examined archived data from Pennsylvania's voter registration website and found that it issued a disclaimer to voters saying the website would be unavailable starting Oct. 5 at 6 p.m.
“This website will be unavailable from 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM on Saturday, October 5th due to planned system maintenance. Thank you for your understanding,” the Pennsylvania Voter Registration website said in October. on the 1st, an archive page seen by FOX News Digital showed. .
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Former President Trump is being assisted by U.S. Secret Service agents after gunfire rang out during a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
President Trump announced on September 25 that Butler would make his historic comeback on October 5, months after he was shot in the side of the head by a would-be assassin on July 13. Pennsylvania's voter registration website has announced scheduled maintenance. Archive data from the site investigated by Fox Digital shows sometime between September 30th and October 1st.
Republican National Committee Co-Chairman Lara Trump and Mr. Pressler sounded the alarm over the scheduled maintenance earlier this month, questioning its timing and slamming the move as “interference” in the election.
“Wow, they’re not even trying to hide their blatant interference – @scottpresler, thank you for reporting – @gop’s legal process is progressing, formal requests for ‘system maintenance’ will come at another time. Postponed,” Lara Trump posted on Facebook. On Thursday, it was accompanied by a screenshot of Pressler's Instagram post asking whether the timing of the maintenance was just a “coincidence.”
Supporters say Trump's return to Butler, Pennsylvania, where the first assassination attempt took place, is 'brave'
According to archival records on the website, Pennsylvania officials updated the page on Oct. 3 (the same day Pressler and Lara Trump publicly posted about the timing of the maintenance), stating that the site was not operating normally and This indicates that maintenance will be carried out from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. From 6pm to midnight.
Trump was scheduled to take the stage in Butler at 5 p.m. Saturday, but the venue would have been pitch black while he rallied his base and encouraged residents to register to vote.
Pressler joined Human Events' Jack Posobiecz on the matter last week, taking a victory lap after the rally was rescheduled to midnight, but he's still not “100 percent happy” with the timing of keeping the schedule. he added. Pressler noted that website updates are typically scheduled for midnight, when users are less likely to use the platform.
Former President Trump addresses the crowd at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he survived the July 13 assassination attempt. (Matthew McDermott, Fox News Digital)
“It is clear that the Pennsylvania Department of State was interfering in the election and attempting to block public attention from registering new voters,” Pressler said.
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Lara Trump also praised Thursday's scheduled maintenance being moved late into the night, saying, “And just like that, we asked the PA to make the change. What happens when citizens demand fairness?” A great example of this,” he shared on Facebook.
Eric Trump and Lara Trump arrive on stage at former President Trump's rally on Saturday, October 5, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Matthew McDermott, Fox News Digital)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Pennsylvania Department of State for comment on this story on Sunday, but did not immediately receive a response.
The website was up and running as of Sunday morning and does not include any disclaimers regarding planned maintenance outages. Fox News Digital did not document that the site was shut down for maintenance from Saturday evening until Sunday morning, but screenshots of the site posted on social media do show that it was reported for maintenance. An error page from the site is shown.
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A review of the State Department's social media revealed that the website had previously been shut down for routine maintenance at odd times during the day, from 1 p.m. on June 29 to 9 p.m. the following day. It turned out that.
People wave signs at a rally for former President Trump on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler. (Matthew McDermott, Fox News Digital)
Butler's historic rally also included brief remarks from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who returned to the same compound where President Trump was nearly killed and emphasized the importance of voter registration, and drew thousands of people. We gathered.
“I think this is the most important election of our lifetimes. This is no ordinary election. They want to take away your freedom of speech. They want to take away your right to bear arms. They think… they want to take away your right to vote, 'in effect,''' Musk told the audience on Saturday.
Musk repeatedly encouraged the crowd to encourage everyone inside and outside their social circles to register and vote by Election Day.
A large crowd awaits the arrival of former President Trump in Butler on Saturday, October 5, 2024. (Matthew McDermott, Fox News Digital)
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“And to be honest, you just want to be a pest. You just want to be a pest to everyone. You know, people on the streets everywhere,” he said.
“Fight, fight, fight, vote, vote, vote,” Musk added, referring to Trump, who was shot in the ear in July, shouting to the crowd, “Fight, fight, fight.”
Get the latest on the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more with Fox News Digital's Election Hub.
