File Upload Error Causes Countywide Voting Outage in Fort Bend County

A human error during the May 26 primary runoff election caused a countywide voting system outage in Fort Bend County, Texas. An incorrect file from a May 2 election was manually uploaded into the voter check-in system, causing machines at every polling location to crash for approximately two to three hours. The outage began between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and was resolved by 5:30 p.m. Some voters cast regular ballots during the disruption, while others were directed to use provisional ballots.

Daniel Wong, Fort Bend County interim Judge, and Elections Administrator Chase Wilson confirmed the error was administrative and did not compromise ballot integrity. Wong called for a full investigation into the incident. The outage drew swift reactions from elected officials and party leaders. U.S. Representative Christian Menefee urged residents to keep voting and joined Republican Party Chair Greg Barns in calling for extended polling hours to compensate for lost time and address public skepticism.

Despite bipartisan pressure to keep polls open later, the Democratic Party chair declined to agree to an extension, and polls closed at the scheduled 7 p.m. deadline. Amanda Lugo, Voter Protection Director for the Texas Democratic Party, encouraged voters to remain in line and use provisional ballots if necessary. The incident raised ongoing concerns about election administration reliability in the county, though officials maintained that no ballots were compromised.