Texas software glitch delayed nearly 600,000 voter registrations
Nearly 600,000 voter registration applications in Texas were delayed after a computer system failure, days before early voting was due to open on Monday, The Guardian reported.
The failure involved the Texas Department of Public Safety, known as DPS. A DPS website used for driver's license applications was designed to allow Texans to register to vote at the same time.
Between October 2025 and February 2026, people who selected 'yes' to register on that site received receipts confirming their choice. Their registration information was never recorded.
DPS failed to send almost 600,000 registrations to the Texas secretary of state's office for distribution to county registrars, the local offices that handle voter lists. Some of the delays stretched back to October 2025.
The delayed records were sent to counties shortly before the November election. Election workers scrambled to process the backlog as early voting loomed, The New York Times reported. The backlog surfaced just before the midterm elections. Early voting allows people to cast ballots before Election Day.
The League of Women Voters of Texas and Move Texas Civic Fund filed a lawsuit against state officials over the failures. The suit names Secretary of State Robert Howden and DPS Director Freeman F. Martin as defendants.
The lawsuit asks a judge to enforce a 2021 settlement intended to provide reliable online registration through the DPS, The Texas Tribune reported. It seeks an order requiring officials to establish a working voter registration process and show the court evidence of compliance within one month.
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla wrote to Governor Greg Abbott and Howden seeking an explanation of how the failure occurred and how many registrations were affected.
