Pennsylvania Department of State Under Criticism for Site Maintenance on Day of Trump’s Return to Butler
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The Pennsylvania Department of State’s voter registration site will be down for maintenance beginning Saturday, October 5, originally overlapping former President Donald Trump’s triumphant return to Butler, Pennsylvania, nearly three months after the first assassination attempt on his life. However, it seems officials may have moved the time after criticism.
Conservative activist Scott Presler is among those who pointed to this bizarre reality.
“The @PAStateDept 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,” he observed.
“W/ all eyes on PA, the site will be down. Coincidence?” he asked, sharing a screenshot from the website directly, which states, “This website will undergo scheduled system maintenance and will be unavailable Saturday, October 5 from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. We thank you for your understanding.”
Trump’s rally that day — which is sure to draw tremendous attention, is slated to begin at 5 p.m. Eastern. Indeed, when one goes to register to vote online in Pennsylvania, a warning pops up in red. However, it seems officials have since moved the time of the scheduled maintenance to begin at 10 p.m. Eastern instead of 6 p.m., at least as the time of this writing.
It now reads:
This website will undergo scheduled system maintenance and be unavailable Saturday, October 5th 10 p.m. until October 6th 4 a.m. We thank you for your understanding.
Many immediately wondered why officials would schedule maintenance during hours of the day rather than the dead of night, as most do.
“Why wouldn’t they do maintenance from 12am to 6am like every other respectable organization? You do it in the middle of the night to avoid customer interruption unless customer interruption is your goal,” one X user surmised. “Tiny loopholes they use to cheat.”
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Margo Martin via StoryfulOthers said this is a clear form of election interference.
“This is most definitely election interference,” another X user said. “They will stop at nothing and do anything in their powers to win.”
Some pointed to other possible nefarious behavior.
“I hope every Pennsylvanian double checks their voter status after that ‘scheduled maintenance,'” another said.
Trump’s rally in Butler — where the first assassination attempt unfolded, leading to the tragic loss of one Trump supporter, Corey Comperatore, who shielded his family from the gunfire — will surely draw much attention.
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“During his visit, President Trump will honor the memory of Corey Comperatore, who heroically sacrificed his life to shield his wife and daughters from the bullets on that terrible day,” Trump’s campaign said, adding that Trump will “also recognize the two other Americans who were wounded by the shooter, David Dutch and James Copenhaver.”
A Senate investigative report on the Butler assassination attempt against Trump revealed several security errors made by the U.S. Secret Service.
“As I’ve said, this was a failure on the part of the United States Secret Service,” Acting Director Ronald L. Rowe Jr. admitted in September. “It’s important that we hold ourselves accountable for the failures of July 13.”
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