Harris County is processing about 75,000 voter registrations that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) never sent to the county before the Monday, Oct. 5, registration deadline.

The Texas Secretary of State notified Harris County on Sept. 23 that 108,000 backlogged voter registration records had never been transmitted due to a technical error, Houston Public Media reported. After removing duplicates, the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office began processing roughly 75,000 unique records. About 2,000 required additional review.

Clear Lake-area residents who registered to vote or updated their information through the DPS online driver's license portal may have records in the backlog. The Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office has a branch at 2400 N. Meyer Ave. in Seabrook.

How the error happened

A third-party vendor that handles batch voter registration transactions for DPS updated its software in October 2025, according to CW39. The update caused portions of records to be cut off. Because the files were incomplete, the Secretary of State's office could not process them. The error went undetected for nearly a year.

Votebeat first reported the statewide problem on Sept. 22. The Secretary of State's office said it received corrected files on Sept. 18 and distributed them to counties on the evening of Sept. 23.

Harris County's 108,000 records represent the largest batch among the seven counties that have publicly disclosed numbers. Collin County received at least 40,000, Travis County about 32,000 and Brazoria County more than 9,000, according to CW39.

Will registrations count?

Samantha Kealoha, chief of staff for the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office, said in a Sept. 25 statement that the office will finish processing the records before early voting begins Monday, Oct. 19. She said the office's priority is ensuring that voters who submitted their information on time are not penalized by delays outside their control.

County and state officials said all registrations will be backdated to when the voter originally submitted the request to DPS. Secretary of State spokesperson Alicia Pierce said the backlog should not affect voters' registration status.

If a voter who registered through DPS does not appear on the rolls, they can cast a provisional ballot. Election officials have a process to verify the DPS transaction, and if the registration is confirmed, the provisional vote will be counted.

How to check your status

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth on Sept. 28 launched a "Plan. Check. Vote." campaign with 13 billboards in English and Spanish across the county, urging voters to verify their registration before the deadline, according to Click2Houston.

Voters can check their registration at hctax.net, through the statewide portal at votetexas.gov, or on the new HarrisVotes mobile app.

Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Annette Ramirez urged residents to verify their status before the backlog became public. "I need everybody to be checking their status so that when they show up at the polls, there's no hurdles for them to be able to get to that ballot box," Ramirez told KPRC on Sept. 22.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, told the Texas Tribune the Secretary of State's office should have caught the error sooner because it oversees the system counties use to receive files from DPS.

The registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 5. Early voting runs Monday, Oct. 19, through Oct. 30, at any Harris County vote center. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.