HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — ABC13 has an update on the number of voter registrations that remain unprocessed in Harris and Fort Bend Counties.
As previously reported, thousands of registrations across Texas remain in flux due to software problems affecting several counties’ communication with the State of Texas.
Currently, there are 14,096 unprocessed registrations in Harris County, according to the Harris County Tax Office. This number has improved significantly from nearly 30,000 toward the end of September.
In Fort Bend County, John Oldham, the county’s elections administrator, told ABC13 that approximately 1,200 registrations are still pending. Just a few weeks ago, that number was around 40,000.
“This has gone on longer than we anticipated,” Oldham said, attributing the delays to what he describes as “a perfect storm” of technical issues.
Here’s how the process works: once a county receives a submitted voter registration form, it sends it to the state for processing. The state then returns the processed registration to the county where it originated. According to Oldham, “Once that happens, the voter is officially registered.”
The root of the current issue stems from two primary factors. First, the state updated its voter registration software earlier this year. Second, the vendor providing voter software for Harris and Fort Bend Counties announced it would be ceasing operations.
As a result, some county software is not properly communicating with the updated state system, leading to processing delays.
A spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State’s Office confirmed that this issue is affecting 24 counties statewide. Alicia Pierce said, “We’ve been working hand-in-hand with those counties to help make sure their county-based system is able to talk to our system.”
Pierce recommends that voters check the Secretary of State’s website ahead of time to verify that their voter registration has been finalized. If there appear to be any issues, voters can reach out to their county election office for assistance.
ABC13 also asked Oldham what would happen if a voter showed up at the polls on Election Day and discovered their registration was still unprocessed. He explained that the voter would be given the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot, which would then need to be finalized in the days following the election.
https://abc13.com/post/voter-registration-backlogs-persist-days-away-early-voting-harris-fort-bend-counties/18014180/