Texas State IT Error Leaves Tens Of Thousands Of Voter Registrations Unprocessed Ahead Of Midterms

County election offices across Texas are racing to process a large backlog of voter registration records after a technical failure at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) prevented many online records from being transmitted to county election offices beginning last October.

The problem, first detected by local election officials, affected both new voter registrations and updates to existing registrations—such as changes of address—and went largely unexplained by state officials for months. Some of the state's most populous counties reported tens of thousands of delayed records; Bexar County alone says it received roughly 45,000 backlogged applications.

“This is really out of left field. Knowing that this one element of (state) applications didn't come through, and we had no insight on it,” said Chris McGinn, executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials.

County officials say the glitch appears to have involved the DPS online portal, which transmits records submitted when people renew driver’s licenses. DPS acknowledged that certain online records “were incomplete and not fully transmitted” to the Secretary of State's office, called the issue a “system issue,” and said it has been resolved without providing further technical details.

Local election offices say the lack of communication from DPS hindered their ability to respond earlier and may have left some people unable to vote in the state's March primary or initially turned away at the polls because their registration or update was not on county rolls.

Counties have until the start of early in-person voting on Oct. 19 to finish processing the late-arriving applications. Election officials urge residents to register by Oct. 5 to ensure their records are processed in time. Voters who appear at the polls but do not show up on the rolls can still cast a provisional ballot and later seek to have it counted. Voters may also verify their registration status via the state’s online portal or by contacting their county election office directly.

The backlog adds strain as counties prepare for the November midterm elections in a state where the U.S. Senate race between Democratic state Rep. James Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton is drawing national attention. Several counties said they may need to hire temporary staff to clear the surge of late records.

What Officials Say: DPS says the system issue is resolved but has not explained the specific cause or why county officials were not notified sooner. County election associations and local offices continue to audit and process incoming records to ensure eligible voters are able to participate in upcoming elections.