AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you’re so inclined to watch election workers count votes Saturday on Election Day, you can now do so. In fact, it’s now required by Texas law.

Travis County election live stream
A screenshot of one of the Travis County election livestreams, which shows one of the areas ballots are stored (Courtesy Travis County Clerk)

Senate Bill 1 requires video surveillance in all areas where ballots are stored and for them to be streamed online. That law requires entities to hold onto those videos until the end of the calendar year or until an election contest filed in the county has been resolved.

That new law is the reason Travis County officials say their website crashed during March’s primary election. The clerk’s office said those livestreams led to an influx of traffic to the site and caused its server to shut down. The site wasn’t operational for about 40 minutes.