Photo: Gage Skidmore

A massive computer failure is making it difficult for people to get driver’s licenses and file tax returns in Virginia, but now Gov. Bob McDonnell has ordered a third-party investigation into the problem, according to NewsChannel 3.

The computer problems have been affecting the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Taxation, and the State Board of Elections. The outage made it impossible for individuals to get or renew driver’s licenses or identification cards at the DMV offices.

More than 5,000 licenses and ID cards have expired during that period, NewsChannel 3 reported.

McDonnell said the review he has ordered will look at what went wrong beyond the hardware issue, particularly response time.

According to state officials, the Virginia Information Technologies Agency–which oversees computers–could be forced to pay more than $100,000 in penalties.