Fort Bend County has processed roughly 15,000 of 18,000 voter registration records delayed by a statewide software error. County election officials provided the figures to FOX 26 on Friday, Oct. 2.

Missouri City and Stafford voters are among those affected. About 3,000 records remained unprocessed ahead of the Monday, Oct. 5 voter registration deadline for the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election.

The backlog traces to a third-party vendor's software update in October 2025 that corrupted parts of voter registration records submitted through the Department of Public Safety's online driver's license services, KPRC 2 reported. DPS said it discovered the problem in late August. The agency worked with the Secretary of State's office and the vendor to fix it Sept. 13, then resent the complete records. The Secretary of State's office confirmed it received corrected files Sept. 18.

The affected records include both new voter registrations and updates to existing records, such as address changes. The county figures refer to records, not necessarily individual voters. Across Texas, at least 200,000 delayed records have been identified, according to FOX 26.

What Missouri City and Stafford voters should know

The Texas Secretary of State's office told FOX 26 that a delay in county processing does not change a registration's effective date. What matters is the date of the DPS transaction. If a resident completed the DPS transaction on or before Monday, Oct. 5, the registration counts for the Nov. 3 election, even if the county finishes processing it later.

Voters who registered through DPS but do not appear on the rolls can cast a provisional ballot. Election officials have a process to verify the DPS transaction, and if they confirm the voter registered through DPS, the vote will be counted.

Karla Maradiaga, a voting rights attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, told KPRC 2 on Sept. 29: "We do recommend not leaving the polling place without a provisional ballot, at least, if you're not showing up on the rolls."

The state is providing grant funding to help counties cover the cost of additional staff to process the delayed registrations.

How to check and what to do

Voters can check their registration status at VoteTexas.gov. Fort Bend County Elections Administrator Chase Wilson's office can be reached at 281-341-8670 or [email protected].

Early in-person voting begins Monday, Oct. 19. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.