The deadline for voter registrations for the upcoming November election is fast approaching, and county election offices across Texas were just hit with a backlog of submissions, some nearly a year old.
As Coastal Bend county election officials respond to an influx of voter registrations, they told the Caller-Times that voters should be reassured that they are working to get through the backlog.
The voter registrations and updates to voter registration records were submitted through the Texas Department of Public Safety as far back as October 2025, but were not sent to Texas county voter registrars until the week of Sept. 21, according to a Sept. 23 statement from the Texas Association of County Election Officials.
The association represents county
election officials across the state.
"Depending on their size, counties have received anywhere from several hundred to tens of thousands of records to process as a result of a technological error at the state level that caused this major backlog," the statement reads.
Election and voter registration officials from Nueces, San Patricio, Aransas and Kleberg counties confirmed that they had received high numbers of backlog requests and are now working to process them before the Oct. 5 deadline.
Rafael Benavidez, Nueces County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office chief deputy, said that on Sept. 22 and 23, the office received 7,837 records from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Some of these were able to be automatically imported into the county's system, but others took more time to address.
As of about 11:30 a.m. Sept. 24, more than 2,000 records still needed to be addressed, Benavidez said.
Benavidez said that he believes the backlog will be resolved by the beginning of next week.
San Patricio County Elections Administrator Victoria Pereida said that the county had received more than 1,000 backlogged voter registrations.
That's in addition to the 100 to 150 new voter registrations it typically receives daily before an election.
"We're working around the clock as best as we can to make sure we're verifying voters' information and [are] still able to process these registrations — that way our voters in the county are taken care of," Pereida said.
Aransas County Elections Administrator Kevin Stroud said that Aransas County had received about 600 backlogged registrations.
Stroud said that voters can have "absolute confidence" that the office will get everything done in time for the election.
Kleberg County received about 320 registrations.
"Texas voters should be confident that Texas county election officials are working around the clock to ensure valid voter registrations submitted in a timely manner before the deadline will be processed appropriately, despite the challenges and additional time that this backlog has created," the statement from the Texas Association of County Election Officials reads.
Voters can verify their registration status at VoteTexas.gov or by contacting their county voter registrar.
News organization Votebeat reported that the affected registrations were submitted by voters through the state's online driver's license portal. Votebeat also reported that the Texas Secretary of State's Office has shared that any voters whose registrations were affected by this issue and do not appear on the rolls will be able to cast a provisional ballot.
Olivia Garrett reports on education and community news in South Texas. Contact her at olivia.garrett@caller.com.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: State error dumps voter registration backlog on Coastal Bend counties
