Sec. 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 a device capable of recording images or sound unless the watcher agrees to disable or deactivate the device. 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.

(f) On accepting a watcher for service, the election officer shall provide the watcher with a form of identification, prescribed by the secretary of state, to be displayed by the watcher during the watcher's hours of service at the polling place.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 498, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 203, Sec. 2.41; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 554, Sec. 12, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 9, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 864, Sec. 35, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Amended by:

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1164 (H.B. 2817), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2011.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 188 (S.B. 160), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2013.