Harris County election officials are working to process about 75,000 voter registrations that were never delivered because of a software error at the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The backlog affects Spring-area residents who registered to vote or updated their address through the DPS online driver's license portal since October 2025. The deadline to register for the Nov. 3 midterm election is Oct. 5. Anyone unsure of their status can check at hctax.net.

The Texas Secretary of State notified Harris County on Wednesday, Sept. 23, that 108,000 backlogged records had never been forwarded to the county, Houston Public Media reported. After stripping out duplicates, the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office began working through roughly 75,000 unique records. Of those, 2,000 require additional review.

Samantha Kealoha, chief of staff for the Tax Assessor-Collector's Office, said in a written statement Friday, Sept. 25, that the office will finish processing the records before early voting begins Oct. 19.

"Our priority is to ensure that eligible voters who submitted their registration information on time are not disadvantaged by delays outside of their control," Kealoha said.

The problem extends statewide. Officials in seven of Texas' 254 counties have confirmed receiving a combined 178,000-plus backlogged records, according to Votebeat reporting published by Houston Public Media. Neighboring Montgomery County alone received about 34,780 records, ABC13 reported.

DPS said the technical problem has been fixed but has not explained what caused it. The Texas Association of County Election Officials said its members received no communication from DPS about the backlog or why they went nearly a year without being told.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, told Votebeat the Secretary of State's office should have caught the gap. "They should have caught it," Bettencourt said.

Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State, said in an email that the backlog should not affect voters' registration status. Voters who registered through DPS online but do not appear on the rolls can still cast a provisional ballot, Pierce said.

The Harris County Clerk's Office had not responded to Houston Public Media's request for comment as of Friday, Sept. 25.

Spring-area residents can verify their registration at hctax.net. Early voting begins Oct. 19.