Relating to ineligibility to serve as a poll watcher, the official text

H.B. No. 493

AN ACT

relating to ineligibility to serve as a poll watcher.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 33.006(b), Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(b) A certificate of appointment must:

(1) be in writing and signed by the appointing

authority or, for an appointment for a write-in candidate under

Section 33.004, by each of the voters making the appointment;

(2) indicate the capacity in which the appointing

authority is acting;

(3) state the name, residence address, and voter

registration number of the appointee and be signed by the

appointee;

(4) identify the election and the precinct polling

place or other location at which the appointee is to serve;

(5) in an election on a measure, identify the measure

if more than one is to be voted on and state which side of the

measure the appointee represents; and

(6) contain an affidavit executed by the appointee

stating that the appointee:

(A) will not have possession of a device capable

of recording images or sound or that the appointee will disable or

deactivate the device while serving as a watcher; and

(B) has not been finally convicted of a felony of

the first or second degree or a felony offense in connection with

conduct directly attributable to an election.

SECTION 2. Section 33.035, Election Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 33.035. INELIGIBILITY OF PERSON CONVICTED OF CERTAIN

OFFENSES [ELECTION OFFENSE]. A person is ineligible to serve as a

watcher in an election if the person has been finally convicted of a

felony:

(1) of the first or second degree; or

(2) [an offense] in connection with conduct directly

attributable to an election.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 493 was passed by the House on May 13,

2025, by the following vote: Yeas 86, Nays 52, 3 present, not

voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to

H.B. No. 493 on May 28, 2025, and requested the appointment of a

conference committee to consider the differences between the two

houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report

on H.B. No. 493 on June 1, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 90,

Nays 44, 2 present, not voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 493 was passed by the Senate, with

amendments, on May 26, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays

5; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference

committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and

that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.

493 on June 1, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 23, Nays 8.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

APPROVED: __________________

Date

__________________

Governor