Unknown number of Texas voter registrations went unprocessed due to DPS error

An error by the Texas Department of Public Safety left an unknown number of voter registration applications unprocessed after incomplete records from the agency’s online driver’s license portal failed to reach county voter registrars. State officials confirmed they identified affected transactions and began delivering the previously unsent registrations to counties. The problem, discovered weeks before the Oct. 5 registration deadline, will inject older applications into county workloads at a peak point in the election calendar; the DPS portal has been a major registration channel, used by roughly 6 million Texans from 2020-2024, and Texas has more than 18 million registered voters. Officials have not disclosed what information was missing, how many records were affected, or when the issue began.

State elections officials are investigating the cause and have taken immediate steps to limit disruption: the vendor Civix temporarily removed files from county dashboards while the state and DPS address the incomplete records, and the state has identified affected entries. Voters who submitted registrations through DPS before Oct. 5 can cast provisional ballots that will be counted if the transaction is verified. For counties working directly in the state’s TEAM system, the state can withhold older DPS records when newer registrations exist; counties using separate software will receive all affected records and must reconcile potential duplicates as the state sends batches and coordinates with registration vendors.