Virginia: Fairfax email system crashes, stopping military-ballot distribution
The Washington Post reports: Efforts by elections officials in Fairfax County and several Virginia jurisdictions to distribute absentee ballots to military members and others living overseas ground to a halt Tuesday after a group concerned about the state's voting system crashed e-mail servers with a massive letter-writing campaign.
Rokey W. Suleman II, Fairfax County's general registrar, said his office was unable to send or receive e-mail for much of the day, which could result in a crucial delay in sending absentee ballots electronically.
The mishap, which also affected several other Virginia jurisdictions including Richmond, occurred after representatives of TrueVote.US sent hundreds of e-mails to elections officials expressing concern about whether Virginia was prepared for an expected record turnout on Election Day. ...
Kevin Zeese, executive director of TrueVote.US, which advocates reform in the balloting process, said the letter-writing campaign was designed to show Virginia officials "they are being watched by citizens" wanting the Nov. 4 election to run smoothly.
"It is important for elections officials to know people are watching and for people to know they want adequate voting machines," Zeese said.
But a campaign that was designed to prevent Election Day problems instead created chaos, Suleman said. -- Massive E-Mail Campaign Freezes Absentee Ballots - washingtonpost.com