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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