Texas Department of Public Safety delays 200,000 voter registration applications

Who's involved

• Texas Department of Public Safetyagency blamed for system error causing voter registration backlog
• Texas Secretary of State's Officenotified counties of backlog and offered grants for processing costs
• Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Celia Israelcompleted processing of 32,000 to 35,000 DPS records
• Sarah Chensenior supervising attorney at Texas Civil Rights Project, commented on voter registration difficulties
• Votebeatreported the DPS system flaw in September
• Texas Tribunereported the DPS system flaw in September

The facts

• DPS failed to send counties voter registration applications and updates submitted through online portal dating back to October 2025.^{1 3 4 5} Stated by 4 sources
• Texas has at least 200,000 voter registration applications and updates in backlog due to state error.^{1 3 4} Stated by 3 sources
• DPS blamed the error on a software update by a third-party vendor that omitted three pieces of data from daily files.⁵
• DPS identified the problem in late August, resolved it September 13, and resent affected records.⁵
• Texas is one of just eight states without universal online voter registration.^{1 3 4} Stated by 3 sources
• Travis County processed 32,000 to 35,000 DPS voter registration records before voter registration deadline October 5.^{2 5} Stated by 2 sources
• Votebeat and Texas Tribune reported the system flaw in September.^{1 3 4} Stated by 3 sources
• Texas Secretary of State's Office offered grants to reimburse county costs for processing increased DPS applications on September 25.^{1 3 4} Stated by 3 sources

Who said what

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

• Sarah Chen, Texas Civil Rights Project System has been designed to make things harder for voters.^{1 3 4}
• Celia Israel, Travis County Voter Registrar DPS should have held press conference, owned mistake, and fully explained on day one.⁵
• DPS Issue affected only online transactions in which applicants opted to register to vote.⁵
• Voting rights advocates Some voters could be disenfranchised if not added to rolls in time.^{1 3 4}