Democratic congressional candidate Kristin Hook is calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to extend voter registration through Election Day following a state error that delayed the processing of more than 100,000 voter registration records.
Hook, the Democratic nominee for Texas' 21st Congressional District, made the request Sunday as counties across Texas work through voter registration applications and updates delayed by an error involving the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Texas' 21st Congressional District includes Bandera County, including Bandera and Pipe Creek, as well as Blanco, Comal, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr and Real counties and portions of Bexar and Hays counties.
"I'm calling on Governor Abbott to allow for voters to get registered through Election Day to make up for the absolute mess that has happened on his watch at the Texas Secretary of State's office," Hook said in a statement. "Texans did their part. Republicans in charge screwed this up bigly. No one should lose their right to vote."
According to state officials, some voter registration applications and updates submitted through the DPS online driver's license portal were not transmitted to county election officials. The affected records date back as far as October 2025.
DPS said the issue involved incomplete records that were not fully transmitted to the Texas Secretary of State's voter registration system.
"DPS transmits voter registration information to the Secretary of State (SOS). Certain online records were incomplete and not fully transmitted," the agency said in a statement.
DPS said the system issue has been resolved and that it worked with the Secretary of State's Office to identify incomplete records and backfill the missing information.
The state began sending the delayed records to county election officials in September. Officials have not publicly identified the precise cause of the problem or exactly how many voters were affected.
The Texas Association of County Election Officials said counties received anywhere from hundreds of additional records in smaller counties to tens of thousands in larger counties.
Bexar County received more than 45,000 records, according to Hook's campaign. Travis County received about 32,000, while Harris County received about 108,000 records and had approximately 75,000 remaining to process after removing duplicates.
The backlog comes just days before the Oct. 5 voter registration deadline for the Nov. 3 general election. Early voting begins Oct. 19.
Hook is encouraging Texans who registered to vote or updated their address through the DPS online system during the past year to check their voter registration status.
State officials have said voters whose registrations were affected by the error can still request a provisional ballot. Election officials will count the provisional ballot if they confirm the voter completed registration through DPS by the applicable deadline.
Hook also cited a story shared on her social media involving a Texas college student who said she was unable to cast a ballot during the March 2026 primary. Hook characterized the account as an example of what she called voter disenfranchisement.
"This is what voter disenfranchisement looks like in the state of Texas," Hook said.
Hook urged Texans to check their registration status at VoteTexas.gov.
Hook is a former teacher and federal policy worker with a doctorate in science. According to her campaign, she previously worked in the U.S. Senate, at the National Institutes of Health and at the Government Accountability Office.
She is running against Republican nominee Mark Teixeira for the open 21st Congressional District seat. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is not seeking reelection.
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