Texas Republicans Let Voter Registrations Sit for Nearly a Year. Now They Call It an Error.
A Texan updates a driver’s license, asks to register to vote, and goes on believing the state did its job. But applications and updates submitted through the Texas Department of Public Safety portal were not sent to county voter registrars. Some date back to October 2025. With the November election approaching, counties have suddenly been handed the work the state failed to deliver.
Bexar County received about 45,000 backlogged records. Collin County received more than 40,000, and Travis County received approximately 32,000 overnight. These figures include address updates and possibly duplicates, so they are not a count of newly registered voters. County workers must sort that out while handling the usual rush before the October 5 registration deadline. The Associated Press reports that some offices may need temporary workers.
DPS says it fixed the system issue. It has not publicly explained what caused it, how many people were affected, or why the problem went unnoticed for nearly a year. Election officials also do not yet know whether someone tried to vote in the March primary and found that a registration never reached the county.
Republicans run Texas. They run the agency that failed to transmit these records, and voters—not the people in charge—face the consequences. If a government makes people register by a deadline, it has an obligation to deliver their applications on time. Calling this an “error” does not answer why it happened or who was hurt.
I call it cheating when the state takes a voter’s application and leaves that person uncertain whether they can vote. Texas needs to account for every affected record, tell those voters what happened, and give counties what they need to process the backlog before voting begins. Texans who followed the rules should not have to fight the state to get on the rolls.
