Texas voter registration hits record 19 million ahead of early voting

Texas voter registration has surpassed a record 19 million ahead of early voting for the November 3, 2026 midterm election, despite major technology failures. Software glitches in state portals, including the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas.gov, caused backlogs of over 500,000 voter records, prompting lawsuits and overtime processing by county election officials. High voter interest comes as competitive races unfold, including a tight U.S. Senate contest between Ken Paxton and James Talarico.

Record voter registration growth

• ▪Texas voter registration figures released on October 16, 2026 show an increase of 2.2% compared to November 2024 and 7.7% compared to the November 2022 midterm elections.
• ▪Texas voter registration reached a record high of more than 19 million voters ahead of the November 3, 2026 midterm election, according to figures released by the Texas Secretary of State on October 16, 2026.
• ▪Fast-growing suburban Texas counties experienced significant voter registration increases since November 2022, including Kaufman County at 27%, Waller County at 23%, Ellis County at 21%, and Hays County at 21%.

Tarrant County registration discrepancies

• ▪Tarrant County officials stated that Texas state voter registration figures reporting a 32,503 voter decrease in Tarrant County are incorrect, citing county dashboard data showing 131,418 more registered voters than state reports.
• ▪Texas Secretary of State spokesperson Alicia Pierce stated that the state office is looking into discrepancies between state figures and Tarrant County's voter dashboard numbers.

DPS portal errors and legal challenges

• ▪Harris County election officials processed over 75,000 delayed voter records from the Texas Department of Public Safety backlog between September 22, 2026 and October 3, 2026.
• ▪A software error in the Texas Department of Public Safety web portal delayed the transmission of more than 500,000 voter registration records and updates to county registrars ahead of the 2026 midterm election.
• ▪The League of Women Voters of Texas and MOVE Texas Civic Fund filed a lawsuit on October 9, 2026 against state officials in Bexar County alleging that Texas Department of Public Safety voter registration transmission failures violated a 2021 legal settlement.

Provisions for DPS voter applicants

• ▪Voters who submitted registration through Texas Department of Public Safety online services but do not appear on county rolls can cast a provisional ballot that will be counted if officials confirm timely registration.
• ▪Voter registration applications postmarked or submitted through the Texas Department of Public Safety on or before October 5, 2026 remain valid for the November 3, 2026 election even if processed later.

Texas.gov portal address backlogs

• ▪A technical error on Texas.gov affecting name and address updates between September 1, 2026 and October 2026 caused a backlog of several thousand voter registration records transmitted to local county election officials.
• ▪Initial estimates by the Texas Association of County Election Officials identified approximately 3,000 backlogged voter records in Bexar County, 2,400 in Harris County, 1,100 in Travis County, 700 in Williamson County, and 400 in Hays County stemming from Texas.gov updates.

Key 2026 texas election races

• ▪In the 2026 Texas U.S. Senate race, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces Democratic challenger James Talarico, with a Marist poll showing Talarico leading Paxton 47 percent to 45 percent among likely voters.
• ▪In the 2026 Texas Governor contest, Republican incumbent Greg Abbott faces Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa, with polling from Marist showing Abbott leading 49 percent to 45 percent among likely voters.