Texas Election Code - Section 33.051. Acceptance Of Watcher
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Texas Laws > Election Code > Texas Election Code - Section 33.051. Acceptance Of Watcher
§ 33.051. ACCEPTANCE OF WATCHER. (a) A watcher appointed
to serve at a precinct polling place, a meeting place for an early
voting ballot board, or a central counting station must deliver a
certificate of appointment to the presiding judge at the time the
watcher reports for service. A watcher appointed to serve at an
early voting polling place must deliver a certificate of
appointment to the early voting clerk or deputy clerk in charge of
the polling place when the watcher first reports for service.
(b) The officer presented with a watcher's certificate of
appointment shall require the watcher to countersign the
certificate to ensure that the watcher is the same person who signed
the certificate. Except as provided by Subsection (c), a watcher
who presents himself or herself at the proper time with a
certificate of appointment shall be accepted for service unless the
person is ineligible to serve or the number of appointees to which
the appointing authority is entitled have already been accepted.
(c) A watcher may not be accepted for service if the watcher
has possession of any mechanical or electronic means of recording
images or sound. The presiding judge may inquire whether a watcher
has possession of any prohibited recording device before accepting
the watcher for service.
(d) The certificate of a watcher serving at an early voting
polling place shall be retained at the polling place until voting at
the polling place is concluded. At each subsequent time that the
watcher reports for service, the watcher shall inform the clerk or
deputy in charge. The officer may require the watcher to sign the
watcher's name in the officer's presence, for comparison with the
signature on the certificate, if the officer is uncertain of the
watcher's identity.
(e) If a watcher is not accepted for service, the
certificate of appointment shall be returned to the watcher with a
signed statement of the reason for the rejection.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 498, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts
1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 203, § 2.41; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 554,
§ 12, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 728, § 9,
eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 864, § 35, eff.
Sept. 1, 1997.
Section: 33.006 33.007 33.031 33.032 33.033 33.034 33.035 33.051 33.052 33.053 33.054 33.055 33.056 33.057 33.058
Last modified: August 11, 2007
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