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Computer glitches between the county and state that resulted in a backlog in the processing of 52,000 registered voters has been fixed.
County Judge Peter Sakai said all voters who meet voter registration deadlines will be able to vote on Nov. 4.
"Any application received with a U.S. postmark on or before Monday, October 6th, 2025, will be processed in time for the November 4th, 2025 election," Sakai said.
That backlog of voters is on the way down now that the county elections database can be shared with the state via a voter registration system known as TEAM.
And a temporary team of "surge" workers was hired at the county elections office to whittle down the backlog of voter registration forms. Nine workers solely dedicated to processing the backlog could be seen busy at work on Monday.
Sakai and County Elections Administrator Michele Carew held a joint news conference at the county elections office on South Frio on Monday afternoon to reassure voters.
Carew said she expects the backlog of 52,000 applications to be reduced by 75% to 80% by the end of the week, with the remaining applications to be processed shortly thereafter.
Sakai and Carew both praised the cooperation between the county elections office and the Texas Secretary of State's Office in Austin. Sakai, a Democrat, also pushed back against allegations the computer issues, also experienced by other Texas counties, were part of an effort by the GOP-controlled state to suppress voter participation.
The backlog of voter registrations began when the county's previous, third-party voter registration vendor — Votech — filed for bankruptcy and went out of business sooner than expected.
Then came the computer issues with the state that are now fixed.
In early September, commissioners voted to move forward to replace the defunct Votech with another company — VR Systems — for future voter registration at a cost of $2 million.
