Record 19 million registered to vote in Texas, registration backlog cleared

A record 19 million Texans are registered to vote this election cycle ahead of the midterm elections.

Texas Secretary of State Robert Howden announced that Texas has 19,041,684 registered voters ahead of the Nov. 3 election, the most in state history.

Those registered represent more than half of the population, which surpassed 31.7 million last year, according to U.S. Census data.

"Texas continues to see strong voter registration numbers, and we want every eligible Texan to be prepared to participate in the upcoming election," Howden said in a statement. "Whether you are a first-time voter or have been casting ballots for decades, I encourage you to make a plan to vote, familiarize yourself with the candidates and issues on your ballot, and take advantage of the resources available at VoteTexas.gov."

As more people have moved to Texas and its population has surged, more people have registered to vote. The total number registered to vote in Texas for this election cycle represents a 2.2% increase from the November 2024 election and a 2% increase from the March 2026 primary election, according to SOS data.

Th number and growth is a marked shift from over the last two decades when voter registration remained relatively flat, hovering around 13 million.

Ten years ago, more than 13.4 people were registered to vote for the November 2016 general election. In November 2006, there were barely 13 million registered voters in Texas, according to SOS data.

Howden made the announcement just days before early voting begins on Monday, Oct. 19. Early voting extends through Friday, Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.

During early voting, registered voters may cast their ballots at any early voting polling location in their county of registration.

"Early voting gives Texans the flexibility to cast their ballots at a time and location that works best for them," Howden said.

For those eligible to vote by mail, the deadline for election officials to receive an application for a ballot by mail is Friday, Oct. 23. Howden is encouraging eligible voters to submit their applications as soon as possible to allow adequate time for processing, mailing and returning their ballots.

The voter registration record was broken after at least 178,000 voter registration applications never reached county election offices due to a Texas Department of Public Safety database error. That error has since been corrected.

Over the past year, there was a 500,000-voter registration application backlog, according to a Dallas Morning News tracker.

The SOS, Texas Department of Public Safety and state lawmakers have acknowledged that applications never reaching counties stemmed from a new voter registration management system being implemented. After a system overhaul was launched July 2025, as early as last October is when voter registration information wasn’t sent to counties, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said. He began working with state and county officials to ensure the backlog and underlying issue was corrected, The Center Square reported.

As of Oct. 15, the voter registration backlog had been cleared, Bettencourt said.

“Texas counties have cleared a several hundred thousand voter registration backlog from a DPS software update error late last year through lots of catch-up work across the state,” he said. In Texas’ largest county, Harris County, which Bettencourt represents, the county registrar said it alone cleared an additional 108,000 voter registration backlog sent from the SOS.

Bettencourt said the legislature would hold hearings to investigate “the two Agencies' SNAFU that caused this problem, but clearly, a vendor software update triggered the problem that does need a permanent fix by contractors and agency personnel alike.”