Saturday

11-10-2025 Vol 19

Thousands of Texans, who recently registered to vote, caught in a backlog after its election system experienced technical issue


Tens of thousands of Texans who recently registered to vote are caught in a backlog in counties across the state because Texas’ upgraded election system experienced technical issues when it was installed in July.

The state has election software called TEAM, and while not every county in the state uses that software, they do have to communicate with it. This summer, that has been a problem, leaving people who signed up to vote without their registration.

Matthew Prudhomme is a certified volunteer voter registrar.

“We help with getting people on the voter rolls across the state,” Prudhomme said. “We don’t tell people who to vote for, but we walk people through the how-to-vote process.”

Prudhomme said he loves being part of a process that he says is fundamental to democracy; helping people participate and get their registration cards, which typically takes a month.

“We have five days from when we register someone to turn in their registration to the county, and form there, the countdown starts for 30 days,” he told ABC13. “But in Harris County, it’s generally, like, seven to 14 days. Recently, we’ve seen it extend past the thirty days, which is why we had concerns.”

Those concerns are not his or Harris County’s alone. The issue is the state’s upgraded registration system, causing a log of registrations across the state. The issue was first reported by Natalia Contreras with VoteBeat, a nonprofit newsroom focusing on elections.

“In the interviews I had with election administrator across the state, is just like, right way,” Contreras said. “There wasn’t enough training for folks to get familiar with the system. And they also said their wasn’t enough time to test it.”

Fort Bend County, for example, told ABC13 as of a few days ago its backlog was 40,000. It’s normally between 100 to 1,000 on any given day.

ABC13 reached out to Harris County, which said that as of Monday, there were 29,987 voter registrations pending with the state. The office also sent this statement, which read in part.

“The Harris County Tax Office is doing everything in its power to ensure we are serving the voters of Harris County. We have sought guidance from the Secretary of State regarding the thousands of Harris County applications that are currently pending verification by the state.”

For its part, the Secretary of State’s Office told ABC13 the upgraded TEAM system will better manage elections. They sent the following statement.

“We have been preparing for this for over a year. Technical issues are to be expected with a rollout of this size, and that is why we chose this constitutional election cycle for this transition.”

The Secretary of State’s office did tell ABC13 that anyone who registers by the deadline, Oct. 6, will be able to vote in November’s election.

Prudhomme worries, though, about what it does to the trust in elections.

“It’s a minor inconvenience for me,” he said. “But that exponentially grows for every voter that is not getting put into the system on time.”

For updates on this story, follow Tom Abrahams on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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Niko Travis

Niko Travis is a dedicated health writer with a passion for providing clear, reliable, and research-backed information about medications and mental health. As the author behind TrazodoneSUC, Niko simplifies complex medical topics to help readers understand the benefits, uses, and potential risks of Trazodone. With a commitment to accuracy and well-being, Niko ensures that every article empowers readers to make informed decisions about their health.

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