FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS — A voting system outage caused by an incorrect file upload disrupted polling across Fort Bend County, Texas, for nearly three hours on Tuesday afternoon before services were restored by 5:30 p.m. The problem began around 2:30 p.m. and affected voting machines at polling locations throughout the county.

The outage occurred when an incorrect file was uploaded into the voting system at the election administration building, according to county officials. Voting machines went down as a result, though some voters were still able to cast ballots while others were issued provisional ballots during the disruption. Fort Bend County interim Judge Daniel Wong stated, "This issue was administrative in nature and related solely to the incorrect file upload." He added, "It did not impact the integrity or accuracy of ballots cast." Wong also called for a thorough investigation into the cause of the voting issues.

Fort Bend County elections administrator Chase Wilson described the error as a minor technical misstep with extensive consequences. "This was just a manual process," Wilson said. "Unfortunately, very small mistake can lead to a very great outcome here, so a mistake with the click of a button essentially takes."

Officials do not believe the error was made with malicious intent. No decision was made to extend polling hours, and polls closed at 7 p.m. as scheduled. The Fort Bend County judge does not have the authority to extend voting hours in a primary election; such an extension would require agreement from both political parties in the county.