Fannin County, Texas -- The Fannin County Elections Administration woke up to the same news and headlines that are being distributed throughout the state:
“Unknown number of Texas voter registrations went unprocessed due to DPS error”
“Counties will start receiving a surge of applications less than two weeks before the Oct. 5 registration deadline, adding work at one of the busiest points in the election calendar.”
“After Texas DPS neglected tens of thousands of voter applications, Democrats demand an investigation”
Let’s start with the facts. The Texas Department of Public Safety allows people to register to vote as part of the driver’s license issuance procedure. The DPS then sends that information through a portal to the Texas Secretary of State Office, which then sends the information out to the appropriate county.
The Fannin County Election Administration is among the counties that received a large amount of voter registrations this week (over 1,000 in one day) dating back to October of 2025. But the media and the Democratic Party are probably not placing the blame in the correct place. It’s possible that the DPS was instructed to hold the applications by the SOS due to software issues. The information was not processing through correctly, leaving vital pieces of information out of the application being received by the county and rendering the applications unworkable.
There have been numerous issues with software for over a year now. That was when the SOS rolled out their new, improved version of TEAM (Texas Election Administration Management) software. This software is used to process everything from voter registration to election logistics to final election results.
The amount of additional work and overtime this system has generated continues to escalate. Every problem that has been created has been blamed on others—DPS, Congressional Redistricting, individual counties, etc., etc. The SOS seems to take the advice of the best attorneys in Texas and refuses to acknowledge or accept any liability. If appears that if they can shift the blame elsewhere, they will allow that to happen.
It is unknown whether the TEAM software was one of the reasons that the prior Secretary of State, Jane Nelson, recently resigned. Regardless of her reasons, the incoming Secretary of State, Robert S. Howden, was handed a disaster that has barely escaped a complete implosion. (And it could still happen.)
My office has no reason to believe this was a deliberate political subversion. However, we are thoroughly convinced that we are dealing with a bureaucratic mess. It is much more likely a case of a government agency accepting the low bid to update specialized software that the company had limited experience with and they seem to have no understanding of what the end users need.
The issues are still not resolved either. We still have numerous on-line applications that the direction on the street address is missing. (For instance, the address is 800 E. 2nd Street, but when we receive the address it reads 800 2nd Street.) This may seem insignificant, but it may change the voter’s precinct and we can’t just guess.
This and numerous other issues are merely programming errors and it would seem, lack of attention to detail. We
don’t believe there is a huge conspiracy going on here. (And I am willing to concede that I am sometimes too naïve and always expect the best from others…) What we believe happened is just poor management and bad decisions on the part of the SOS.
Regardless of what you decide to believe happened, here’s what we are doing locally to deal with this issue. We are processing voter registrations as quickly as humanly possible. We have declared this to be DEFCON 4 or perhaps a DEFCON 3 situation. At DEFCON 4, you do a “double take” and assess security and improve procedures. At DEFCON 3, readiness is increased above normal levels. This is critical. All available hands are working on the problem and additional manpower is being added. We are doing everything possible to process every eligible voter.
And then the questions begin…
What if we don’t get everyone processed? If you show up at the polls to vote and you are not in the system, poll workers and election judges are being instructed to immediately defer to the local elections office. If your information is in the SOS system, but has not been worked by us, we will stop what we are doing and work it on the spot. This information is dated and we will use the date that you submitted your application to DPS.
What if you aren’t in the SOS system at all? Hmmm…that one isn’t so easy. If you want to double check your voter registration, you can check online at votetexas.gov or more specifically:
https://goelect.txelections.civixapps.com/ivis-mvp-ui/#/login
If you aren’t in that system, you can file another voter registration application with the Elections Administration. We have no way to verify if all of the applications have been sent to us, but we have no reason to believe that they haven’t.
If you were already a registered voter and have voted at least once in the last two years, your registration should still be active. If you renewed your driver’s license and voter registration, it will be sent to us, but all we do is verify the address. If you have voted recently, you should still be good to go!
If you are not registered, you can do so online, but we would prefer that you pick up a paper application from our office. Phone numbers are not mandatory, but including one makes it easier for us to process your application if some piece of information is missing.
Please remember that all voter registration applications must be submitted no later than October 5, 2026 in order to vote in the upcoming November election.
We realize situations like this are frustrating—for you and for us! We want you to know we are committed to protecting your right to vote. Even if we had no control over the problems that have been created, we will do everything in our power to make sure you can vote. If there is a conspiracy, we didn’t get the memo and we don’t see color (red or blue or maybe green?). We just see voters!
Fannin County Elections Administration – 2225 N. Center St., Suite 200, Bonham, TX 75418 (903) 583-7488 or elections@fanninco.net
