AUSTIN—The complicated system of allotting presidential delegates swamped the Texas Democratic Party during record voter turnout in the spring and needs to be improved, party Chairman Boyd Richie told an advisory committee Monday.

Texas Democrats distribute the state’s 193 delegates to the national convention using a hybrid system that includes the primary election and a caucus, with distribution favoring state Senate districts that had high voter turnout in the most recent presidential and gubernatorial elections.

But precinct convention workers accustomed to just a trickle of caucus-goers were overwhelmed by this year’s record turnout of more than a million voters in a historic race between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for the party’s presidential nomination.

“No one ... could have expected the record-breaking turnout that we saw and while this turnout was good for Texas it was clear the current system that governs the Texas Democratic Party is not capable of handling such large numbers of people,” Richie said. “I do believe that updates and changes need to be made.”

Richie was addressing the Advisory Committee on the Texas Democratic Party Convention/Caucus System, which will convene several more hearings around the state to study the so-called “Texas Two-Step” and possibly make recommendations for improvement.

Clinton won the March 4 Texas primary, getting 65 delegates to Obama’s 61. Obama fared better at each stage of the state’s caucuses, which started at the precinct level immediately after polls closed.

The precinct caucuses quickly devolved into chaos in many parts of the state.