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Early voting is open through Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3, 6 days away. Elections

Elections

Civil rights groups sue Texas officials over voter registration delays

Three civil rights organizations sued Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden and Texas Department of Safety Director Freeman F. Martin in federal court, alleging violations of the National Voter Registration Act following delays in processing more than 500,000 voter registration applications.

Where
Statewide
When
Oct. 28, 2026
Sources
One outlet

Taxes and money

None stated in sources.

Does this affect you?

Who's involved

  • NAACPplaintiff
  • NAACP Texas chapterplaintiff
  • League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Texas chapterplaintiff
  • Robert HowdenTexas Secretary of State, defendant
  • Freeman F. MartinTexas Department of Safety Director, defendant
  • Bradley HeardDeputy legal director for voting rights litigation at Southern Poverty Law Center
  • Alicia PierceAssistant Secretary of State for Communications

The facts

  • Over 500,000 voter registration applications had delayed processing, with transactions not transmitted to counties until late September 2026.1
  • A separate technical error created a backlog of 15,000 unprocessed registrations as of October 16, three days before early voting started.1
  • Suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.1
  • Secretary of State's Office did not respond to records request by October 22 deadline; said it would not estimate response cost until November 6.1

Who said what

These are statements and claims made by the people involved. They are reported, not verified.

  • Alicia Pierce, Assistant Secretary of State for Communications Texas counties have cleared the backlog; no counties had pending applications by early voting start.1
  • Alicia Pierce, Assistant Secretary of State for Communications Voters who registered through DPS online but don't appear on rolls can cast provisional ballots that will be counted if DPS transaction is verified.1
  • Bradley Heard, Southern Poverty Law Center State's timely response failure prevented voter outreach in advance of election.1
  • Bradley Heard, Southern Poverty Law Center Provisional ballots are backstop but not complete substitution; they can often be rejected.1

Sources

Outlets: 1 not rated Who's covering Texas →

These outlets were found through Google News headlines. Google decides which outlets appear there, and they lean mostly one way, so this sheet can only be as balanced as the reporting it was built from. Leanings are AllSides Media Bias Ratings.

  1. Civil rights organizations sue Texas secretary of state, DPS director over voter registration delays Houston Public Media Not rated, October 28, 2026

This sheet was written by AI from the sources above and adds nothing they don't state. Read the originals for full context.

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