UPDATE: Dallas County Just Got More Than 68,000 Delayed Voter Records. Texas Still Hasn’t Explained the Failure.

Aqua Jones | September 25, 2026

Dallas County has received more than 68,000 voter-registration records that were delayed by a state transmission error. Collin County received about 40,000. Across seven counties that have reported figures, the known total exceeds 178,000 records—and Texas still has not said exactly what caused the failure.

Let’s get the number right: 178,000 records does not necessarily mean 178,000 people lost their right to vote. The files include applications and updates, such as address changes. Some people may have registered through another route while their records were delayed. Officials have not established how many people were affected.

But this is still a serious problem. Counties are sorting through old records just ahead of Texas’ October 5 registration deadline for the November election. People who completed a voter-registration transaction through the Department of Public Safety’s online driver’s license portal need to know whether it reached their county and was processed.

What happened to the records?

DPS was supposed to send voter-registration applications and updates submitted through its online driver’s license portal to counties. According to reporting by Votebeat and The Texas Tribune, some records did not arrive when they should have; the delayed records go back at least as far as October 2025. State officials said incomplete records had been withheld instead of transmitted to county registrars. They have not explained what information was missing or why that stopped the records from moving.

DPS says the error has been resolved. That does not tell voters how it happened, how many registrations are still being processed or whether anyone was unable to vote in the March primary. Those questions remain open.

The state’s own election system also deserves scrutiny. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Republican, told Votebeat that the Secretary of State’s office should have detected the missing files. His criticism is an accountability question, not a finding that the office caused the DPS error. County workers now have the job of reviewing the records under a tight deadline.

Check your registration now

If you registered or updated your address while completing an online DPS driver’s license transaction, check your status through the Texas voter-status portal. If your information is missing or incorrect, contact your county voter registrar directly; the Secretary of State provides a county election-office directory. Keep any confirmation or paperwork showing when you submitted your information, and ask the county what steps apply to your situation. Texas lists Monday, October 5, 2026, as the last day to register for the November 3 election.

The answers Texas still owes

How many of these files are new registrations, how many are updates, and how many are duplicate transactions? When did the failure begin? Did it affect anyone who tried to vote in March? How many records in Dallas and Collin counties still need review? And what check will prevent another transmission failure from sitting unnoticed?

The state can say the error is fixed. Voters still need to know whether their record is fixed.

Reporting basis: Natalia Contreras’ September 24 Votebeat and Texas Tribune report, the Texas voter-status portal and the Secretary of State’s county directory. No Chill News has not independently obtained the delayed records or confirmed individual voters’ registration status.