The Honorable Ed J. Harris, Chairman Opinion No. H- 563

House Committee onElections House ofRepresentatives Re: Validity ofpoll watchers Austin, Texas 78767 being paid by a labor union. Dear Representative Harris:

On behalf ofthe Elections Committee, you have requested our opinion concerning certain provisions ofthe Election Code and the Campaign Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1973, article 14.01, et seq., Election Code (Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 423, p. 1101).Your first question is whether a labor union may pay a poll watcher. .

The appointment ofpoll watchers is governed by article 3.05, et seq., ofthe Election Code. Article 3.05 permits poll watchers to be appointed by a candidate, onbehalf ofa candidate bya political party, or onbehalf ofa candidate by a group ofvoters registered in the precinct. We are discussing your question in relation to elections for public office, butyour attention is also directed toarticle 3.06 which involves theappointment ofpoll-watchers in elections at which issues are considered. There is no statutory authority for a labor union to appoint a poll watcher.

Poll watchers serve on behalf ofa candidate or issue; their function “is partisan, not nonpartisan in character. ” Priesler v. Calcaterra, 243S.W. 2d62,65 (MO. 1951);26Am. Jur. 2d Elections $233, p. 65. A pollwatcher represents the interests ofthe candidate by or for whom he is appointed under article 3.05.Since alabor union as such is not among those authorized toappoint a poll watcher, article 3.07(h), which allows pollwatchers to be paid by the interest they represent, does not provide for payment bya labor union.

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The Honorable Ed J. Harris page 2 (H-563)

Article 14.04(d) prohibits the making of campaign expenditures byany person other than a candidate, his campaign managers, or the campaign manager ofapolitical committee, except for certain expenditures by individuals which do not pertain toyour questions. “Expenditures” is defined in article 14.01(d)’ as “any payments made or debts and obligations incurred by a candidate or political committee involved in an election. ” We believe this definition includes payment ofa poll watcher, especially in light ofarticle 14.030, which lists such payments in its enumeration ofpermissible campaign expenditures. Consequently, article 14.04(d) prohibits thepayment ofa poll watcher by alabor union.

Your second que,stion is whether such payments may be made from voluntary contributions by union members and others to a union’s political education fund.

. As previously noted, article 14.04(d) allows expenditures such as the payment ofpoll watchers to be made only by a candidate, his campaign managers, or the campaign manager ofa political committee. It is therefore clear that such an expenditure may not be made from apolitical education fund unless that fund is administered bya political committee. See, art. 14.01(n), Election Code; Attorney General Opinion H-189(1973). - Your third question is whether alabor union or its political education committee may contribute to a political campaign where such a contribution is to be used topay a poll watcher, andwhether such a contribution would make the organization a political committee.

The labor union itself may not make such a contribution. Art. 14.04(a). However, a voluntarily funded organization ofits members is a “person, ” article 14.01(m), and may make campaign contributions, article 14.04(a), to pay a poll watcher. Suchan arrangement has been approved under 18U.S.C. 5610, which deals with contributions tofederal campaigns, Pipefitters Local Union No. 562v. United States, 407 U.S. 385 (1972), and is expressly authorized by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,which amended 18U.S.C. 9610. In allowing contributions by such an organization, the Court required both “a strict segregation ofits monies from union dues and assessments, ” and that the organization be

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“financed in some sense by the voluntary donations of employees. ” 407 U.S. at 409, 414.

In our opinion these requirements are also essential under Texas law butwhere they are satisfied, the voluntary organization may make campaign contributions.

Whether or not such a contribution would make the organization a political committee under article 14.01(n) and subject to the Campaign Reporting and Disclosure Act, depends uponwhether one of the “principal and major purposes ofthe organization

. . . is to collect contributions and make expenditures in political campaigns, involving measures as well as candidates. ” Attorney General Opinion H-189 (1973). SUMMARY A labor union may not pay a poll watcher from union dues, either directly or indirectly, through a campaign contribution. However, avoluntarily funded organization ofits members could directly pay a poll watcher if the organization is a political committee, and could always make indirect payment through a campaign contribution. Sucha contribution would not make the organization a political committee unless one ofits major purposes is to make contributi.ons in support of political campaigns or measure*.

e Attorney General of Texas
irst Assistant

C. ROBERT HEATH, Chairman Opinion Committee 

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