More than 27,000 Virginians register to vote after extension

RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Department of Elections says more than 27,000 people registered to vote during a brief extension of the state’s voter-registration deadline.

A federal judge granted the deadline’s extension Thursday after heavy demand prevented some voters from registering online. U.S. Senior Judge Claude Hilton had ordered officials to reopen voter registration in the commonwealth and keep it open until 11:59 p.m. Friday.

Election officials said in a statement Saturday that as of the 11:59 p.m. deadline for online registration, 27,952 voter registration applications had been submitted since the court order. Officials said the final number of applications submitted during the window will be higher when in-person and mailed voter registration applications are processed in the coming days.

Mailed voter registration applications had to be postmarked on or before Friday.