Texas election officials cleared a massive voter registration backlog of hundreds of thousands of applications days before early voting begins. The delay stemmed from a Texas Department of Public Safety software error dating to October 2025. County officials processed the records through overtime and temporary staff funded partly by state grants. Unlisted voters who registered through the portal before October 5, 2026, can cast provisional ballots, while advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit to prevent future delays.
Texas counties clear registration backlogs
- ▪The Texas Secretary of State's Office confirmed on October 14, 2026, that no Texas counties had pending backlogged voter registration applications
- ▪Harris County Tax Assessor and Voter Registrar Annette Ramirez confirmed that Harris County cleared its backlog of over 75,000 voter registration applications in early October 2026
County election staff face increased strain
- ▪County election offices hired temporary workers and worked weekends to process backlogged registrations alongside incoming applications before the October 5, 2026 deadline
- ▪Travis County Tax Assessor Celia Israel stated that the Texas voter registration backlog created enhanced stress for elections staff ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election
- ▪Bastrop County Election Administrator Kristin Miles stated that county election officials should not be burdened by state-level software issues in the future
State offers grants for registration processing
- ▪The Texas Secretary of State's Office offered grants to Texas counties to cover costs for overtime and temporary workers hired to clear the Texas voter registration backlog
- ▪The Texas Secretary of State confirmed on October 14, 2026, that state grant funding remains available for county election processing expenses
DPS portal software errors cause backlog
- ▪The New York Times reported that the Texas Department of Public Safety's online driver's license portal failed to record data for users who chose to register between December 2025 and February 2026
- ▪An October 2025 Texas Department of Public Safety online driver's license portal software update error failed to fully transmit online voter registration records to applicants' home counties, causing a voter registration backlog
Voting rights groups file lawsuit over delays
- ▪The voting rights lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters names Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden and Texas Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin as defendants
- ▪The League of Women Voters of Texas and MOVE Texas Civic Fund filed a lawsuit against state officials in Bexar County on October 9, 2026, seeking to prevent future registration delays caused by state software errors
Voting protections established for DPS registrants
- ▪Voter registrations submitted through the Texas Department of Public Safety web portal on or before October 5, 2026, remain valid for the November 3, 2026 election
- ▪Voters who registered via the Texas Department of Public Safety's online driver's license portal but do not appear on voter rolls can cast a provisional ballot that will be verified with state records
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