Texas faces new voter registration backlog days before early voting begins

Key points

• A new state error has backlogged 15,000 voter registration records, specifically address updates submitted through the Texas.gov website between September 1 and last week.
• County officials must determine which of these records were submitted before the October 5 registration deadline to ensure they are processed before early voting begins on Monday.
• Bexar County received 3,000 affected records, Travis County 1,100, Williamson County 700, and Hays County 400, though not all counties were impacted.
• This new backlog follows the recent clearance of over 500,000 records that were delayed for over a year due to a software error in the Texas Department of Public Safety’s driver’s license portal.
• The Texas Secretary of State’s Office is offering grants to offset costs for overtime and additional staff, while election officials demand legislative action to fix the unstable TEAM system.

Background

In late September 2026, Texas faced a crisis when a software error at the Department of Public Safety caused nearly 600,000 voter registrations to go unprocessed, with some records dating back to October 2025. Voting rights groups sued state officials for breaching a 2021 settlement agreement. By mid-October, county officials reported clearing this massive backlog, though they struggled with the state’s TEAM system. The current issue is a distinct, smaller backlog arising from a different state website, highlighting ongoing technical challenges in Texas election administration.

How outlets are covering it

The Texas Tribune and Votebeat report that the new backlog stems from an error in the Texas.gov website, managed by the Texas Department of Information Resources and developed by Deloitte, though the Secretary of State’s Office attributes the root cause to its vendor, Civix, which runs the TEAM system. The Guardian focuses on the broader context of the previous 600,000-record backlog and the lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Texas and Move Texas Civic Fund, emphasizing voter suppression concerns. While the Secretary of State’s Office states the issue is being escalated and resolved, the Texas Association of County Election Officials criticizes the state for 'continued mismanagement' and demands accountability from the Legislature, noting that some records are missing necessary address information.

Why it matters

This new backlog threatens the integrity of the November 3 election in Texas, a state with a closely contested U.S. Senate race. It highlights the fragility of the state’s voter registration infrastructure and the burden placed on local election officials to manage state-level technical failures. The timing, just days before early voting, raises concerns about whether all eligible voters will be properly registered and able to cast their ballots without delay or provisional voting complications.

What to watch

County election officials will continue to process the 15,000 affected records to ensure those submitted before the October 5 deadline are updated. The Texas Secretary of State’s Office will monitor the resolution of the Texas.gov error and the distribution of corrected records. Voters with questions about their registration status are advised to contact their county voter registrar directly. The state may face further scrutiny or legal challenges regarding the reliability of its voter registration systems.