The office of the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar says it has finished processing all 75,000 voter registration records that were caught in a backlog, ABC13 Houston reported. The county says the work was complete by October 3, two days before the October 5 registration deadline.
A team of more than 50 people reviewed and processed the records by hand, according to the office, which is led by Annette Ramirez. Nearly 75,000 applications were submitted during the period covered by the backlog.
What caused it
County officials attributed the backlog to a state level error. The Texas Department of Public Safety said certain online records were incomplete and were not fully transmitted to the Secretary of State’s office, and said that system issue has been resolved. This site reported on the registrations caught in the DPS failure in late September.
What is still outstanding
The county gave a further review to 11,000 applications to verify details such as precinct placement, and says hundreds of records still need review to confirm the correct precinct. Officials also said some records could not be matched to an existing voter.
New registration applications were sent to the Secretary of State’s office for verification, so voters may not see their status change right away.
How to check your registration
Voters can check their status at hctax.net or by calling 713-274-VOTE, which is 713-274-8683. The state maintains a lookup at VoteTexas.gov, and voters can also contact their county election office.
Early voting in Harris County begins October 19. Monday, October 5, was the last day to register for the November 3 election.
