From Texastribune · · 1m 10s
Texas sues over 500k unprocessed voter registrations
Texas faces lawsuit after 500,000+ voter registrations failed to process through DPS portal.
In brief
Texas faces lawsuit after 500,000+ voter registrations failed to process through DPS portal. Texas must fix voter registration system by Nov. 3 after failing to process 500,000+ applications through DPS portal. Originally reported by Texastribune.
Quick answers
- What happened?
- Voting rights groups sued Texas after 500,000+ voter registration applications submitted through DPS web portal never processed.
- What’s the dispute?
- Texas failed to maintain online voter registration system since 2016, breaching 2021 settlement agreement.
- What is the key takeaway from Texas sues over 500k unprocessed voter registrations?
- Texas must fix voter registration system by Nov. 3 after failing to process 500,000+ applications through DPS portal.
What happened?
Voting rights groups sued Texas after 500,000+ voter registration applications submitted through DPS web portal never processed.
“Voting rights groups are suing the state of Texas after more than 500,000 voter registration applications were submitted through the Texas Department of Public Safety’s web portal but never processed”
What’s the dispute?
Texas failed to maintain online voter registration system since 2016, breaching 2021 settlement agreement.
“In 2016, Texas voters and voting rights groups sued the state over its lack of online voter registration”
2021 settlement
State agreed to permanently maintain online voter registration process through DPS portal.
“In 2021, the state settled the lawsuit, agreeing to permanently maintain the process”
Current backlog
DPS and secretary of state’s office sent county officials 500,000+ delayed voter records from October 2025.
“DPS and the secretary of state’s office last month sent county election officials a backlog of hundreds of thousands of voter registration records and updates delayed by a software update error with the DPS web portal”
Plaintiffs
League of Women Voters of Texas and MOVE Texas Civic Fund filed lawsuit representing 2021 settlement plaintiffs.
“The suit was filed by the League of Women Voters of Texas and MOVE Texas Civic Fund, a nonprofit organization focused on engaging young Texans and underrepresented communities”
What they want
Plaintiffs demand DPS and secretary of state fix system, produce records, and show compliance within one month.
“The lawsuit, filed last week in Bexar County’s 224th District Court, is asking a judge to order both DPS and the Texas Secretary of State’s Office to maintain a functioning registration process, produce records documenting registration failures, and show proof of their compliance to the court within a month”
What happens next
DPS and secretary of state will respond to lawsuit as judge decides if registration failures breach 2021 settlement.
“DPS and the secretary of state’s office are expected to file their responses to the plaintiff’s allegations. A judge will decide whether the registration failures constitute a breach of the state’s 2021 settlement agreement to maintain a reliable voter registration system through DPS’s web portal”
What it means
Texas must fix voter registration system by Nov. 3 after failing to process 500,000+ applications through DPS portal.
