Tens of thousands of voter registration applications submitted through the Texas Department of Public Safety’s online driver license portal were not transmitted to county election officials for nearly a year, state and local authorities confirmed. The backlog spans from October 2025 through Sept. 13, 2026.
State elections director Christina Adkins stated that incomplete information in some records stopped the agency from fully transmitting the files to the Secretary of State’s office for processing. Consequently, the voter registration data was not sent to counties for review. A DPS spokesperson confirmed the system issue has been resolved but did not specify which data fields were missing.
Sam Taylor, public affairs director for the Texas Association of County Election Officials, said state officials are currently working to determine the exact number of unsent records and transfer them to counties. The volume could amount to tens of thousands of files for some of the state’s largest counties, while smaller jurisdictions may face hundreds of additional applications.
The delay coincides with the start of early voting on Oct. 19 in Texas. Secretary of State spokesperson Alicia Pierce clarified that applications submitted through the DPS portal with a transaction date before the Oct. 5 voter registration deadline remain valid for the Nov. 3 general election. She noted that applications filed via the in-person driver license process were not affected by the error.
Chris McGinn, executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials, warned that the processing error may have prevented some eligible voters from casting ballots during the March primary. He described the situation as placing a huge administrative burden on local officials but expressed hope that they could process the influx of applications before polls open.
Adkins advised county officials to cross-reference the newly received backlogged records with newer updates to voter registrations, as many DPS submissions might be redundant if voters completed separate applications or updated their information later. She is working with DPS to ensure recent system modifications do not impact daily file transfers moving forward.
