Questions remain as tech company takes blame for Florida county election website failure

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An election technology company is taking full responsibility for problems that prevented many Florida county election officials from immediately releasing primary results Tuesday night.

While the issue did not affect voters or ballot counting, there were still unanswered questions Wednesday.

Tallahassee-based VR Systems issued a brief statement but declined to answer questions about how widespread the problem was, why it wasn’t prepared for websites that slowed or crashed, and how it would fix it a problem that occurred during low participation. mayor when dealing with a much larger demand for information during a hotly contested presidential election less than three months away.

The issue did not affect how counties reported primary voting to the state, nor did it affect the state’s ability to provide election updates. But people checking local election websites on Tuesday night couldn’t access the results when they came in.

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“We share everyone’s sense of urgency to identify why people may be having trouble accessing our customers’ websites,” the company said in a brief statement. “First, the reporting of unofficial results on election night was not affected and there is no indication of malicious activity.”

The company said an increase in website traffic contributed to the problem.

VR Systems did not return emails and phone calls from The Associated Press seeking more details about the error. A reporter went to his office to ask for more information in person and was told that anyone authorized to speak on the matter was too busy. The reporter was also told to visit the company’s website for a statement, and that the company could not print a copy of this statement at corporate headquarters.

While the issue did not affect the process of casting, tabulating and reporting votes, it caused a headache for counties that use VR systems, including some of the state’s largest.

“This has had no impact on our ability to report our unofficial results. We did so without any delay,” said Gerri Kramer, a spokesman for the supervisor of elections in Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa and many of its suburbs. “Our unofficial results have been uploaded in the state and shared publicly through social media. Additionally, in our public canvassing session, we made sure the media knew where to find the results so they could report on them.