AUSTIN — Travis County election workers were processing thousands of voter-registration records Monday as Texas’ registration deadline arrived, with county offices staying open until midnight for residents completing or updating their registrations. The workload swelled after the Texas Department of Public Safety sent counties a backlog of hundreds of thousands of voter-registration records about two weeks earlier. That drop coincided with the normal late surge of applications, pushing election offices across the state to add temporary staff and work overtime. Travis County received 32,000 records from DPS and had about 8,000 left to process as of Monday. County Tax Assessor Celia Israel said she expected the team to finish before Oct. 19, the first day of early voting. “They’ve been working day and night, overtime weekends to try to get caught up,” said Chris McGinn, executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials. He said the usual deadline rush had continued for an additional two weeks because of the backlog. Israel said staff members have had to interpret handwritten forms, including distinguishing between similarly spelled surnames. She argued Texas should allow online voter registration, saying it could reduce errors and processing time. Texas is one of seven states that do not offer online voter registration. The Secretary of State’s Office is offering grants to help election offices pay for overtime and temporary workers. Spokesperson Alicia Pierce said the state would continue supporting counties to help ensure eligible voters can cast ballots in November. The rush highlights how administrative delays can put additional pressure on local election offices during a critical period for voter access. Travis County officials say they are confident they can complete the remaining work ahead of early voting.