All articles tagged with #voter registration
Texas reached a record 19 million registered voters ahead of the November 3 midterms, up 7.7% from 2022. This surge occurred despite a major software error at the Department of Public Safety that delayed nearly 600,000 applications. Suburban counties saw significant growth, while Tarrant County saw a decline. Early voting begins Monday.
A new federal lawsuit alleges the Trump administration illegally collected voter data from 47 states for the Department of Homeland Security. The suit, filed by civil rights groups, claims the administration bypassed state privacy laws by using commercial databases to reconstruct voter records. This legal challenge arrives as the administration faces a 25-0 record of losses in court regarding its demands for state voter rolls, while simultaneously attempting to create a national voter registry ahead of the midterm elections.
Texas county election officials are processing a new backlog of 15,000 voter registration records just four days before early voting starts, following a separate state error. This latest issue affects address updates submitted via the Texas.gov website between September 1 and last week. Officials must quickly verify which records were submitted before the October 5 deadline to ensure they are updated in time for the November 3 election. This comes shortly after counties cleared a massive backlog of over 500,000 records caused by a Department of Public Safety software error. The Texas Secretary of State’s Office is offering grants to help counties cover overtime costs, while election officials criticize the state’s voter registration system for creating unsustainable unpredictability.
A software error at the Texas Department of Public Safety delayed nearly 600,000 voter registrations from October 2025 to February 2026. Voting rights groups sued state officials for breaching a 2021 settlement, though officials claim the backlog is now cleared before early voting begins.
Texas election officials have cleared a backlog of over 500,000 voter registration applications delayed by a Department of Public Safety software error, just in time for the November 3 midterms. While the backlog is resolved, voting rights groups have sued state officials for breaching a 2021 settlement agreement that required reliable online registration. The dispute highlights tensions between state agencies and local counties, with officials promising provisional ballots for affected voters.
Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms secured endorsements from 32 current and former Georgia law enforcement officials, including former Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant, while Republican rival Rick Jackson previously claimed support from 104 sheriffs. The voter registration deadline passed on October 5, with early voting scheduled from October 13 to 30 ahead of the November 3 general election.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can access the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system to verify voter citizenship, but the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period prevents mass purges in the 90 days before the 2026 midterms. Experts note that while the ruling allows individual checks, it has minimal immediate impact on the upcoming election. The administration’s broader efforts to identify noncitizen voters have yielded few confirmed cases, with data reliability remaining a central point of contention between federal officials and state election administrators.
Democratic Texas Attorney General candidate Nathan Johnson has pledged to investigate state vendor contracts, specifically targeting consulting firm Deloitte, following a software error that delayed the processing of nearly 200,000 voter registration applications. The error, which originated in October 2025, was only discovered in September, leaving less than a month before the November 3 midterm elections. While state officials assert the backlog is being resolved and provisional ballots will be counted, the incident has intensified scrutiny over the outsourcing of core government functions and the reliability of Texas’s limited online registration system.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has issued a directive for the Department of Defense to use advanced AI and cyber capabilities to counter foreign interference in the 2026 midterm elections. Simultaneously, he urged military personnel to register to vote, citing 300,000 unregistered service members. While the administration frames these moves as protecting democratic integrity, critics argue the voter push is a partisan tactic to influence blue districts, and the cyber directive follows a pattern of politicized election security efforts.
The Supreme Court has permitted states to use the SAVE database to verify voter citizenship for the upcoming midterms, despite concerns over the tool's reliability and potential to disenfranchise legal citizens.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) demanded action on the SAVE America Act after a Reuters report revealed that over 30,000 noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote in the U.S. since 2000. Lee argued that current laws against noncitizen voting are impossible to enforce under the current 'honor system,' while Reuters attributed the errors to software glitches and clerical mistakes rather than organized fraud.
A software error at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) prevented the transmission of at least 178,000 voter registration applications and updates to county officials. The backlog, which dates back to October 2025, was discovered last week and has forced local election offices to process a massive surge of records just weeks before the October 5 registration deadline for the November midterms. While state officials assert the issue is resolved and affected voters can cast provisional ballots, Democrats are demanding investigations into the failure and the broader performance of the state’s election systems.
A system error at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) prevented tens of thousands of voter registration applications from reaching county officials. The backlog, which includes records dating back to October 2025, has forced local election offices to scramble to process data before the October 5 registration deadline and October 19 early voting start. While state officials assure voters that provisional ballots will be counted, the error has sparked political criticism and logistical strain, with some estimates suggesting up to 750,000 applications may be affected.
A technical error at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has caused a massive backlog of voter registration applications to suddenly reach county offices. Some records date back to October 2025, creating a logistical crisis for local officials just weeks before the October 5 registration deadline. While state officials claim the issue is resolved, Democrats are demanding an investigation and resources to process the surge.
A system error at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) prevented tens of thousands of voter registration applications and updates from reaching county officials. The backlog, which includes records dating back to October 2025, has forced counties to process a sudden surge of data just weeks before the October 5 registration deadline. While DPS claims the issue is resolved, officials are struggling to verify records, and Democrats are demanding state funding to address the administrative burden.