德克萨斯州大多数县的大量积压选民记录已被处理完毕，州务卿办公室周四确认。
A large number of backlogged voter records have been sorted through in most Texas counties, the Secretary of State's office confirmed Thursday.
奥斯汀 — 德克萨斯州选民登记申请的巨大积压问题曾让各县感到困扰，并在全国范围内引发民主党人的担忧，州选举官员周四表示，该积压问题已在提前投票开始前几天被清除。
ANNA WILDER AUSTIN, Texas — A massive backlog of voter registration applications in Texas that frustrated counties and raised concerns among Democrats nationally has been cleared days before early voting begins, state election officials said Thursday.
州官员将这一积压归因于软件故障，导致大大小小的县不得不在德克萨斯州异常激烈的中期选举季节后期匆忙处理大量选民登记申请。该州的提前投票将于周一开始。
The backlog, which state officials attributed to a software glitch, left counties big and small scrambling to process scores of voter registrations late in an unusually competitive midterm election season in Texas. Early voting in the state begins Monday.
州官员尚未透露具体有多少申请被延迟处理，但数量达到十万级，其中仅哈里斯县（包括休斯顿）就有超过7.5万份申请，该县早在本月就已完成积压清理。
State officials have not said how many applications were delayed but the number was in the hundreds of thousands, including over 75,000 in Harris County, which includes Houston and finished its backlog earlier this month.
“考虑到我们的规模，这对我们县来说是一个重大胜利，”哈里斯县税务评估员兼选民登记官安妮特·拉米雷斯说道，她负责监督该县的选举工作。
“With our size, that was a big win for our county,” said Harris County Tax Assessor and Voter Registrar Annette Ramirez, who oversees the county’s elections.
该问题由共和党控制的州官员未公开明确界定，起源于去年10月的德克萨斯州公共安全部，该部门除其他职责外，还允许人们在更新驾驶执照时进行投票或更新选民登记。
The problem, which officials in the Republican-controlled state have not publicly defined, started last October in the Texas Department of Public Safety, which among other things allows people to to vote or update their voter registrations when they renew their driver’s license.
该错误导致大量记录未能发送至申请人所在的县，而这些县正是负责处理和核实申请的地方。这些记录可能是新的选民登记申请，也可能是对现有登记的更新，例如地址变更。
The error failed to send a large number of records to applicants’ home counties, where the applications are processed and verified. Those records could be a new voter registration application or an update to an existing registration, such as a change of address.
公共安全部此前曾表示，某些在线提交的记录“不完整且未完全传输。”该部门周四未立即回应寻求进一步解释的电子邮件。
DPS had previously said certain records submitted online “were incomplete and not fully transmitted.”The department did not immediately respond to an email seeking further explanation Thursday.
德克萨斯州州务卿发言人艾丽西亚·皮尔斯表示，他们尚未了解到有任何县存在待处理的申请。她的办公室此前表示，任何人若前往投票站且未在选民名单中，仍可投临时选票。
Alicia Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Texas Secretary of State, said they were not aware of any county with pending applications. Her office has said that any person can still cast a provisional ballot if they show up to a polling place and are not on the voter rolls.
妇女选民联盟和德克萨斯州公民基金（一个民权组织）提起诉讼，指控该州未能为人们提供一种可靠的投票方式。加利福尼亚州民主党参议员亚历克斯·帕迪拉，作为负责监督联邦选举的参议院规则委员会首席议员，上个月曾致函共和党籍德克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特，要求就此次故障的范围和原因作出说明。
The League of Women Voters and the Texas Civic Fund, a civil rights group, filed a lawsuit that accused the state of not providing a reliable way for people to to vote. California U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee that oversees federal elections, sent Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott a letter last month seeking answers on the scope of the failure and the causes.
选举办公室雇佣了临时工人来应对激增的工作量。在奥斯汀，特拉维斯县税务评估员塞莉亚·以色列表示，她所在选举办公室的积压工作是一种“加剧的压力”，尤其是在过去几周选民申请激增的情况下。
Election offices hired temporary workers to handle the crush. In Austin, Travis County Tax Assessor Celia Israel said the backlog for her elections office was an “enhanced stress,” especially on top of seeing more voting applications coming in the last few weeks.