The first-ever online bar exam got off to a rocky start Tuesday, as some people taking Michigan's test were unable to log into a portion of the test. Panicked and frustrated test takers took to Twitter around 10 a.m. Eastern time to say that they couldn't log into the second of five test modules.

"The online #MichiganBarExam is currently malfunctioning," tweeted recent University of Michigan law graduate Kerry Martin. "The website where they post passwords for each of the modules has crashed. Only finished 1 module. I'm taking the test near 3 other people having the exact same problem. IT hotline won't answer."

John Nevin, a spokesman for the Michigan Supreme Court, confirmed that after the first module was complete, the site technology vendor ExamSoft uses to distribute passwords to test takers went down, meaning they couldn't access the second exam module.

"The vendor support line and Board of Law Examiners office were giving out the password and around 200 people were testing within 10 minutes," he said. "ExamSoft pushed out an email with the password and everyone was able to get in to the second module and start testing shortly thereafter. As a result of this delay, test takers were notified via email that the testing day will be adjusted to allow additional time and account for those who got in late."

ExamSoft planned to email passwords to test takers for the remaining modules, Nevin added. Within the hour, ExamSoft has also posted a universal password on its website to allow candidates to access the second test module. In a statement Tuesday, ExamSoft said that some Michigan test takers experienced a 30-minute delay in accessing the second module. Impacted test takers were given extra time to make up for the time they lost to the delay, the company said. But the delayed start left some candidates rattled.

"Really frustrating," wrote one Michigan test taker on Twitter. "Especially after we expressed concerns about whether examsoft could handle the #mibarexam and were repeatedly told there was nothing to worry about. Phones are busy. Still nothing."

Many jurisdictions have decided to give the bar exam online due to COVID-19, and many are watching to see how early adopters fare. Michigan, Indiana and Nevada were to be the pioneers Tuesday, but Indiana and Nevada both postponed their online exams July 24 after their software vendor, ILG Technologies, ran an update that caused glitches in the exam. Hence, Michigan is the only jurisdiction giving an online exam this week. Florida is scheduled to administer an online exam in August. Many other states plan to give an abbreviated online bar exam in October, including New York, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois and Ohio.

But Michigan's software vendor ExamSoft has years of experience administering the bar exam—albeit with in-person tests. It's also no stranger to problems. Many people across numerous states who took the July 2014 bar exam ran into problems uploading their answers, in what the internet dubbed "Barmageddon." The company eventually agreed to pay $2.1 million to bar takers under a class action settlement and said it would improve its technology.

Michigan in May announced that it would forgo the traditional two-day in person bar exam in favor of a one-day online exam—making it the second jurisdiction in the country to commit to a remote exam. The tests consists of five separate modules of Michigan essay questions. It does not include the Multistate Bar Exam—the multiple-choice question portion of the exam.

Nevin said 733 people are taking the Michigan exam Tuesday.