Dozens of new hires are processing thousands of applications a day — and officials say every eligible voter will be able to cast a ballot November 4.
SAN ANTONIO — The voter registration backlog in Bexar County is shrinking fast.
After weeks of long hours, extra shifts and dozens of new hires, elections officials say they’re finally catching up — and every eligible voter will be able to cast a ballot this November.
What started as a learning curve with the state-run TEAM voter registration system has now turned into a full-speed operation.
“We went from processing anywhere from 1,500 upwards of 4,500 [a day],” said Elections Administrator Michele Carew. “Once they started moving, they were able to really get going.”
Since the new system went live, Bexar County has hired 40 additional temporary workers, on top of the nine they brought in three weeks ago. Each employee must pass a background check and complete cybersecurity training before joining the effort.
The goal: process 5,000 voter registration applications a day.
Inside the Elections Department, it’s busy but focused — what Voter Registration Coordinator La Tonia Burton calls “controlled chaos.”
“It’s tedious because it’s detail-oriented,” Burton said. “While the steps are the same, each voter is different. So pay attention to detail, but just keep going.”
Officials say the department has cleared nearly half of the backlog, with about 33,000 applications left to process, down from nearly 70,000 a week ago.
To meet demand, employees now work in two shifts, with data entry continuing until midnight.
Despite a few technical glitches in the new TEAM software, Carew says the system is running smoothly overall. “I believe we will be 100% done a week from today,” she said.
The voter registration deadline was Oct. 6. Voters who submitted their applications by that date are still eligible — even if their voter registration card hasn’t arrived in the mail.
“Rest assured, we are on the job,” Burton said. “Everyone who is eligible to vote in the November 4th election will be able to cast their ballot.”
Bexar County is the largest county in Texas using the state’s TEAM software, which officials say uploads information to a secure cloud system for use on new electronic poll pads.
Early voting begins Oct. 20. To check your voter registration status, visit VoteTexas.gov or call the Bexar County Elections Office at 210-335-8683. The sample ballots were just published to the Bexar County Elections website.
If your voter card hasn’t arrived yet — don’t worry. You can still vote using one of seven accepted forms of ID.