Texas election workers scramble after registration snafu leaves thousands of voters off rolls

Tens of thousands of Texas voters are missing from county rolls because the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) did not properly process their voter registration applications.

The error, first reported by VoteBeat, means voters who uploaded their information to an online portal for driver’s license and state identification renewal are not yet properly registered. But it does not mean they will not be able to vote in the midterms. 

With 11 days until voter registration ends in Texas, election officials in counties across the state are scrambling to update voter rolls, a burdensome task during their busiest time of year.

Dallas County, Texas’s second most populous county, reported around 40,000 incomplete voter registration applications. Local reporters have posted the numbers they have received from other counties, with one estimating there could be a staggering 750,000 applications affected. 

DPS did not respond to Democracy Docket’s questions about when it first identified the problem, but county officials on a call with reporters Tuesday said the backlog of registrations dates to October 2025. Officials also said they’re still receiving data from DPS and likely will not have an accurate count until the end of the week.

While voters must register by Oct. 5, counties will have until early voting starts on Oct. 19 to process the applications, the officials said.

“I don’t know if they feel confident. Some counties are more confident than others,” Chris McGinn, executive director of the Texas Association of County Elections Officials, said. “Right now what we’re seeing is these are pretty significant numbers of applications coming through.”

Democrats Wednesday called for a probe into the mistake, with U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico saying the “government failed to do its job.” 

The problem comes two months after Texas abruptly swapped out its top election official, with Robert Howden taking the role. Howden’s office did not identify the processing error until election officials brought it to their attention, according to VoteBeat.

The only way Texans can register to vote online is through DPS, thanks to a lawsuit brought by voting rights groups that argued the state had failed to comply with the National Voter Registration Act by prohibiting online registrations.

Online voter registration has long been the subject of partisan attack, with Republicans tending to oppose the convenient and cost-effective method. What’s more, Texas is one of only two states that do not have a dedicated voter registration portal. 

Texas voters can check their registration status at VoteTexas.gov and reach out to their county elections office directly. Voters can also still cast a provisional ballot if their name is not on the voter rolls but they submitted their registration by Oct. 5.

Jen Rice contributed to this reporting.