HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Kharyshi Wiginton had voted before without a problem. So when she went to vote in May and election workers couldn’t find her registration, she was confused.
“What I do know is I’ve been voting consistently and at no point had my registration been a problem,” the Pearland resident said.
Kharyshi Wiginton (KPRC 2)
Wiginton says officials later found her record and confirmed her provisional ballot counted. KPRC 2 has not established a connection between her experience in Brazoria County and the recently disclosed Texas Department of Public Safety software error.
Still, she wants registering and voting to be easier to navigate when something goes wrong.
“So I think that that’s why it’s critical, like this process needs to be as seamless as possible because most people are not going to do the legwork to figure it out,” Wiginton said.
That concern comes as Harris County works through more than 75,000 delayed voter registration records submitted through DPS. State officials say the software problem has been fixed. Now, counties are reviewing the records and updating voters’ information ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
For voters, the immediate advice is simple: Check your registration and address before the Oct. 5 registration deadline. If something is missing or wrong, contact your county’s voter registrar.
How the records got delayed
DPS says the problem started with a third-party vendor’s software update in October 2025. The update cut off parts of some voter registration records submitted through DPS’s online driver’s license services.
That left the Secretary of State’s office with incomplete information it couldn’t process and send to county voter registrars.
DPS says it discovered the problem in late August and worked with the Secretary of State’s office and the vendor to fix it Sept. 13. DPS then resent the complete records. According to the agency, the state confirmed it received the corrected files Sept. 18.
But fixing the software was only part of the work. Counties still needed to receive, review and process the delayed records.
Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Annette Ramirez said her office began receiving them Sept. 22, with more arriving through Sept. 23.
Her office received about 108,000 records. Approximately 33,000 were duplicates, leaving more than 75,000 to process. Those numbers represent records, not a confirmed count of individual voters affected.
What Harris County has finished — and what’s left
Some voters’ information is already updated.
In an updated statement, Ramirez’s office said changes to existing registrations that could be processed immediately have been completed. Those records are active and up to date.
New voter applications that were successfully processed are awaiting state verification. That includes checking identification information and assigning each new voter a voter identification number.
About 11,000 records need a closer look. Those include records staff couldn’t match to an existing voter or the voter’s information.
Ramirez said her team expects to review and process the affected records before early voting begins Oct. 19.
“But what I want the voters of Harris County to know is that we are staffed up and we were ready to handle this,” Ramirez said.
The unexpected backlog arrived while her office was already busy processing applications ahead of the registration deadline.
“And so this on on top of our already heavy workload, this issue that was caused by DPS in the state is putting additional strain on us,” Ramirez said.
The Secretary of State’s office is offering grant funding to help counties cover that extra work, including additional personnel costs. It also has expedited security training and system access for additional staff and temporary workers.
Ramirez said her employees understand why getting the work done matters.
“They realize how important this function is to making sure that we’re protecting our democracy, that we’re allowing everyone’s voices to be heard. And so they take it very seriously,” Ramirez said. “And I know that our folks are dedicated. They’re going to work around the clock to make sure that this is taken care of.”
What advocates still want to know
Karla Maradiaga, a voting rights attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said voters had been reporting delays long before counties received the backlog.
Karla Maradiaga (KPRC 2)
“We had been hearing reports for months from voters across the state who had gone online through the DPS website, updated their registration, and were seeing delays of weeks and sometimes months,” Maradiaga said.
DPS has now provided an explanation and a repair timeline. But Maradiaga wants more information about how the agencies will keep it from happening again.
“But there’s very little transparency about what they’re doing to make sure this does not happen again, that they really understand the issue,” Maradiaga said.
Asked what she would ask DPS directly, she said:
“It would be, what are you doing to make sure this does not happen again? That would be my question.”
A Sept. 22 memo from the Secretary of State’s office said officials were working with DPS to ensure the system changes did not disrupt future daily registration files.
Other questions remain unanswered. The agencies’ responses to KPRC 2 did not include a statewide count of unique voters affected or a county-by-county breakdown. DPS referred questions about affected files to the Secretary of State’s office, which referred those follow-up questions back to DPS.
Maradiaga said she trusts counties to work through the records.
“I want voters to know that counties are doing the best they can to process. And so trust your county. We at TCRP do trust our county elections offices. They know what they’re doing,” Maradiaga said.
What you can do now
You don’t have to wait until you arrive at a polling place to find out whether your registration is correct.
Go to VoteTexas.gov and check your registration and address. If something looks wrong, contact your county’s voter registrar. The deadline to register for the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 5.
In Harris County, you can also check at HCTAX.NET or call 713-274-VOTE (8683). Assistance is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese.
Ramirez said her office can investigate if a registration request or update submitted through DPS isn’t showing up correctly.
“We will be able to call DPS and contact them and have them check their records and then we’ll be able to get back to that voter and make sure that they’re good and ready to go,” Ramirez said.
For voters who still need to resolve a registration issue before the deadline, Maradiaga recommends visiting their county voter registrar’s office and submitting a paper form.
“That way you avoid these technological issues that could possibly arise,” Maradiaga said.
She also encouraged voters experiencing problems to contact the Texas Civil Rights Project.
If you submitted your registration through DPS on time, the state says a processing delay will not erase that submission date. The Secretary of State’s office told KPRC 2 that an eligible voter whose qualifying DPS transaction occurred on or before Oct. 5 will be timely registered for the Nov. 3 election, even if the record is processed later.
The office said the delayed registrations have been sent to counties in time for the election.
If your registration doesn’t show up at the polls
Ramirez said tell a poll worker. If you registered through DPS, let them know so officials can check that transaction.
Ramirez said Harris County poll workers can contact her office’s election call center. Staff can research the record with DPS and update the county system in real time when the information is verified.
“And we are on standby to receive calls from voters and also from the election workers, election judges, and we are checking that voter registration status,” Ramirez said.
The Secretary of State’s office says voters who registered through DPS online services but do not appear on the rolls can cast a provisional ballot. Officials then check the transaction and review whether the voter is eligible for the ballot to count.
Maradiaga said voters should ask about that option before leaving.
“And so we do recommend not leaving the polling place without a provisional ballot, at least, if you’re not showing up on the rolls,” Maradiaga said.
A provisional ballot must be reviewed before it can count — the process Wiginton says ultimately allowed her vote to be counted this spring.
Early voting begins Oct. 19. Election Day is Nov. 3.
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