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Elections Systems Down Across Colorado For A Short Time

DENVER (CBS4)- The statewide voter database was unavailable for nearly a half hour on Tuesday afternoon, seriously disrupting voting for Election Day. The system was back online a few minutes later.

Secretary of State Wayne Williams does not believe the system disruption was due to anything external.

Voters were unable to cast ballots in person from 2:47 p.m. to 3:16 p.m. Tuesday. Voters could drop off ballots that had been completed or were given the option to vote with a provisional ballot.

Colorado Goes To The Polls
Nathan VanDiggelen, 26, of Denver, Colorado fills in his ballot while voting at the Denver Elections Division offices on Nov. 8, 2016. (credit: Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)

Clerks were not able to process mail ballots if the signature had not been verified. Those with verified signatures could be processed during that time.

Others wanting to cast ballots in person were told to wait until the system was back online.

voting
(credit: CBS)

The Secretary of State's Office tweeted an update on the situation:

All polling places across Colorado were impacted. What caused the issue has not been determined.

PHOTO GALLERIES: Election Day In Colorado | CBS4 Behind The Scenes

At 3:16 p.m. the system was back online after it was offline for 29 minutes.

Voting continued as planned at polling places across Colorado. The state Democratic party planned to go to court to keep the polls open an additional two hours to make up for the outage.

Williams opposes extending the polling hours. He said it is unnecessary.

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