County election officials beg Texas to fix flawed voter registration system

AUSTIN, Texas (CN) — As early voting comes to an end on Friday, county election officials eagerly await action from the Texas secretary of state to address the state’s voter registration system, which they claim is plagued with issues.

Four groups representing county officials who facilitate elections, manage courts and collect taxes said they are facing continued challenges with the Texas Elections Administration Management system, or TEAM, according to a Feb. 16 letter to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson obtained by Courthouse News.

All 254 counties in the state are required to use the system to verify Texans’ eligibility to vote. But software issues have complicated that simple task.

“Counties face daily challenges with TEAM’s core functionality,” the groups said in the letter. “For example, processes such as voter registration status lookups, precinct assignments and ballot issuance have continued to malfunction frequently.”

The groups named in the letter include the Texas Association of County Election Officials, the County and District Clerks Association, the Tax Assessor-Collectors Association of Texas and the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas.

In October 2025, while election officials were gearing up for voting the next month, the groups sent a similar letter to the secretary, detailing issues with TEAM’s functionality and requesting support resources.

Chris McGinn, executive director for the Texas Association of County Election Officials, said that because the issues have persisted ahead of primary voting, the groups saw it necessary to send a second letter.

“The frustration from our membership was that nobody is getting any real answers or responses,” McGinn said. “We did not think the letter was going to have a practical implication. The letter was put in place to protect our members if something goes wrong or there is a challenged election during this primary cycle.”

In a statement, Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, said the agency has prepared for over two years for the upgrade to the TEAM system, with the first phase of its roll out being completed in November.

“Since then we have had two other successful elections,” Pierce said. “This update is a massive undertaking involving more than 20 million voter files, and we are systematically addressing any issues as they arise. We are currently in the middle of the primary election and the system is working. In the months ahead, we will roll out additional upgrades and new features.”

In the letter, the associations claim that data discrepancies within TEAM could lead to longer lines at the polls and more provisional ballots being issued. Moreover, issues with the system prevented counties from sending out voter registration cards to voters, which inform voters about the elections they are eligible to vote in. Without such information, voters may be heading to the polls unaware of whether they were impacted by redistricting or polling place changes.

McGinn says it is unlikely that anyone could be disenfranchised or that the election would be inaccurate. However, these issues burden election workers who may have to work overtime to manually correct data and verify voter information.

Kristin Miles, Bastrop County election administrator and president of the Texas Association of County Election Officials, told Courthouse News that working through the issues on TEAM has her staff feeling frustrated and exhausted.

“Everyone is doing the very best that we can with the resources that we have,” Miles said. “But my staff is tired."

Throughout early voting, Miles said the state’s data for who voted early in her county, and a number of others, has been inaccurate. Because counties are required by law to post the daily rosters, Bastrop has had to generate its own roster and post it to its website to remain in compliance. Miles has emailed the state to report the issue, but is only told in response, “We are working on the issue.”

In addition to TEAM’s impact on voting in Texas, smaller counties in the state use the system to manage who is eligible to serve on a jury. The groups said in the letter that people who are deceased or unable to serve on a jury because of a felony have been listed as eligible in the jury wheel.

The letter listed several recommendations for the secretary of state, such as creating a process for counties to report issues and receive guidance.

Above all, Miles said she would like to see better communication from the secretary of state’s office.

“County election officials are doing everything we can with the system we have been provided, but we have no control to fix the system when it is not functioning,” Miles said. “Communication could be helpful so that we understand if there is going to be system downtime or certain areas of the system are not going to be functioning as quickly, then we would shift our focus to another task within our office."

As early voting in the primary comes to an end on Friday, election officials have only a few days to prepare for election day, March 3. If the issues outlined by the county officials go unaddressed, they are expected to crop up throughout the year as voters head to the polls for runoff elections in May and the November general election.

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