By: Paul (Senate Sponsor - Middleton) H.B. No. 1631
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 24, 2023;
April 24, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 15, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 15, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to hours of service by an election watcher.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 33.052, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 33.052. HOURS OF SERVICE AT PRECINCT POLLING PLACE.
[(a)] A watcher at a precinct polling place may begin service at any
time after the presiding judge arrives at the polling place on
election day and may remain at the polling place until the presiding
judge and the clerks complete their duties there. A watcher [that
serves for more than five continuous hours] may serve at the polling
place during the hours the watcher chooses, except that if the
watcher is present at the polling place when ballots are counted,
the watcher may not leave until the counting is complete.
[(b) For purposes of this section, a watcher is considered
to have served continuously if the watcher leaves the polling place
for the purpose of using a wireless communication device prohibited
from use in the polling place under Section 61.014 and the watcher
promptly returns.]
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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