Texas election officials are scrambling to clear a backlog of at least 200,000 voter‑registration applications and updates that were not transmitted to county clerks after a software update at the Department of Public Safety (DPS) in October 2025. The delay comes just weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, raising concerns that some voters could be disenfranchised if their records are not added to the rolls in time.
Limited online registration options
Texas is one of only eight states without universal online voter registration. The state permits residents with a driver’s license to register or update their information through the DPS web portal – a system created after a six‑year legal battle and launched in 2020. More than six million Texans have used the portal since its inception, but the recent glitch has highlighted the fragility of the single‑online‑option model.
What went wrong
Investigations by Votebeat and the Texas Tribune revealed that DPS failed to forward thousands of applications and updates submitted through the portal to county election offices. DPS attributes the problem to a software update from a third‑party vendor that handles batch transactions. The agency says it detected the issue, investigated, and confirmed the connection to the October 2025 update.
County officials feel the impact
County election administrators reported irregular flows of applications. Trudy Hancock, elections administrator for Brazos County, described receiving a handful of submissions one day, none the next, and a surge the following day. “It didn’t make sense, especially those days when we wouldn’t get any applications,” Hancock said.
Kristin Miles, Bastrop County elections administrator and president of the Texas Association of County Election Officials, explained that the state’s voter‑registration management system (TEAM) only displays 30 records at a time, forcing staff to sort through each entry manually. Her four‑person team is working through more than 2,200 records.
State response
On September 25, the Texas Secretary of State’s Office announced grant funding to reimburse counties for costs incurred above routine operational expenses related to the surge in DPS applications. The amount of money available and the source of the funds were not disclosed.
Governor Greg Abbott’s office referred questions to DPS and the Secretary of State’s Office. At a September 24 press conference, Abbott said DPS had told his team the issue was “fully resolved” and that county officials were already processing the pending applications.
What voters can do
State officials assure voters whose registrations were not processed that they may still cast a provisional ballot. Election officials will count provisional ballots once they verify the voter was registered through DPS by the deadline.
Emily French, Texas policy director at Common Cause, urged the state to contact every affected voter promptly and advise them of the provisional‑ballot option.
Calls for accountability and reform
Democratic members of the Texas Senate sent a September 25 letter to Governor Abbott requesting answers about safeguards that failed, support for counties, and the number of applications submitted before the March primary. State Rep. Mihaela Plesa (D) said she will push for tighter protocols in the upcoming legislative session to ensure faster alerts and repairs.
Republican leaders also voiced concerns. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a longtime champion of election‑administration legislation, and Rep. Matt Shaheen, chair of the Texas House Elections Committee, said they are investigating the cause and will hold responsible parties accountable. Shaheen added that the incident has made him skeptical of expanding online voter registration.
Looking ahead
With the midterm ballot featuring several close statewide races, officials stress the importance of resolving the backlog quickly. The combined bipartisan effort to investigate, provide county grants, and inform voters aims to protect the integrity of the election while highlighting the need for more robust, multi‑channel voter‑registration options in Texas.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
