Texas counties see voter registration backlog after DPS issue – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Less than two weeks before the Oct. 5 deadline to register to vote in Texas, county elections statewide are dealing with an unexpected backlog of registrations.

Election officials said it’s due to an issue with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the online process many Texans use to update their driver’s license and voter information.

The Texas Secretary of State sent a mass email to statewide election officials on Tuesday detailing the issue.

According to the notice, the DPS failed to send some voter registration records from its online portal to counties for review because the information was incomplete.

The notice said the Texas Secretary of State’s Office has worked with the DPS to resolve the problem, and the affected records will now be transmitted to their counties.

It’s unknown how many voters were affected or what information may have been missing from the records. The Texas Secretary of State’s Office did not respond to specific questions and we have not received a response from the DPS.

Millions of Texans use the DPS portal to register to vote when applying for or renewing their driver’s license or updating their address. The Texas Association of County Election Officials said it is in contact with all 254 county election administrators in the state and is working to understand the scope of the backlog.

In response to questions from the Secretary of State’s Office, a spokesperson provided the following information about what voters need to know about the protections in place to protect their vote:

These registrations have been sent to counties in time for the Nov. 3 election.

The effective date of the voter registration will be the day of the DPS transaction. If that transaction is on or before Oct. 5, the voter registration will be in time for the Nov. 3 election, even if it is processed later.

A voter who registered through DPS online services but does not appear on the rolls can cast a provisional ballot. Election officials have an established method with DPS to check the transaction. If that voter did register, the provisional vote will be counted.

Local election officials told NBC 5 they encourage voters to check with their local county voter registrar before the upcoming Oct. 5 deadline to make sure their information is correct.