Election Anxieties Escalate in Virginia as Voters Turned Away from Early Voting

People across the country are waiting in long lines to vote early. And when Americans show up to cast their ballots, they don't want to be turned away.

But that happened in Virginia this week.

From Texas to Georgia to Ohio, exercising a little patience is needed to exercise the right to vote early.

It's been the same way in Virginia where in-person early voting came to a screeching halt Tuesday. Workers accidentally cut a fiber optic cable, shutting down the entire state's online voter registration system for several hours. 

On Wednesday, a federal judge extended the deadline by 48 hours for registering to vote in Virginia.           

"I thought it was just affecting voter registration; I soon found out it was affecting more," Donna Patterson, the director of elections for Virginia Beach, told CBN News. "But our biggest concern was voter registration. It's the voter registration deadline today."

"Also, we've been averaging about a thousand voters a day here in Virginia Beach," she continued.

"That was kind of disappointing 'cause we did come down here prepared to vote," said Virginia Beach resident Lonnie Cartwright. "We had planned this out to make this an event to come here and vote today, and we weren't able to."

"So we thought we'd come knock this out today a little early before Election Day, and to try to get ahead of the big crowds possibly, and then just to find out that the computers are down – it's a little frustrating, but those things happen," said Ernie Hawkins, another Virginia Beach resident.

CBN News also wanted to know if this incident raises a concern about the safety and accuracy of this year's election. The voters we talked to weighed in on that as well.

"Things like this just make you more skeptical, but I'm still gonna go out; still gonna vote because it's the only way you can make the change that you want in this country," said Aaron O'Sullivan, a Virginia Beach resident.

"I've been concerned about this whole thing," said Virginia Beach resident Jill Cartwright. "You hear stuff where people are trying to stop you from voting and everything, so it's, yeah, it's concerning."

In Texas, many people waiting all day to vote have expressed concerns that this is an attempt at voter suppression. The governor of Texas is only permitting one drop-off box for mail-in votes per county, and a federal court backed him up this week.