The coronavirus pandemic has caused millions of job losses nationwide. As unprecedented numbers file for unemployment, residents of Florida, the nation’s third most populous state, are finding that it’s essentially impossible to make a claim due to a faulty website.

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CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC



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Error messages and glitches, predominantly involving personal identification numbers (pins), and information that conflicts with existing law, are among the problems being reported with the website.

Although the problems are being exacerbated by the huge influx of applicants—a state record of more than 74,000, nearly double the previous record, applied for unemployment in one week in March—they began long before the pandemic.

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In fact, state auditors warned Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) about the website a year ago. Their report further notes that the problems had been flagged by previous auditors every year since 2015. At the time unemployment was near historic lows, so fixing the website may not have been considered critical.

Whatever the cause, state officials appear to have done little or nothing to correct the problems.

Now that hundreds of thousands of Floridians are unemployed, that decision is having potentially dire consequences. The system is failing under the strain.

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The Tampa Bay Times reports that people may experience a delay of up to several weeks to receive their benefits. Worse, some may be disqualified from certain types of federal relief if the website isn’t fixed in time.

Frustration and desperation are palpable in comments on social media.

“I can’t reset my pin! I have emailed you guys sent my Social Security card and drivers license about five times who is answering your emails,” one woman said.

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“I need my pin I have no money I’ve been trying for two weeks str8 every hours and thousands of calls,” another person commented.

My wife has tried to file since 9am this morning online. After 127 attempts, we finally got her first week submitted, now all we get is the below image on every device! WTF!!!



Server Error in '/' Application…. — Matthew Rupe (@MRRupe20) March 31, 2020

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Same here. I’ve been at it all hrs of the day including 3-4 am !! Nothing. Unacceptable!!! — carriecz (@carriecz) March 31, 2020

Been trying since March 19 hundreds of times a day. Good Luck! — MRT (@Technucation) March 31, 2020

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Have you seen the web site? Looks like it was coded in the 90’s. It’s god awful. Thanks Rick Scott! — Lisa – Be a Helper (@navgirl63) March 31, 2020

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Website is up and down, you get kicked out, have to fill in everything all over again, you don’t know if what you’re doing is right, you get hung up on after waiting/getting through, it’s a nightmare. It took me about 7 hours… and the site keeps stressing deadlines. — Cait Lewis (@CaitLewis) April 1, 2020

I know😭 Day 4 here…same issues. — suzy covell (@Flcvell) April 1, 2020

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Last night, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity announced that the website was down for maintenance.

Due to system maintenance the CONNECT system is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for this inconvenience. — Florida DEO (@FLDEO) April 1, 2020

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DeSantis issued a statewide shelter in place order today, which means many more Floridians are likely to lose their jobs and file, or attempt to file, for unemployment benefits in coming weeks.

The state has not announced when it expects the website to be operational.

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