AUSTIN, Texas — In a reversal, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday called on lawmakers to increase penalties for illegal voting.

The Houston Chronicle in September pointed out that a provision included in sweeping voting restrictions signed into law by Abbott lowers criminal offenses for illegal voting from a second-degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor, which comes with a one-year jail sentence.

"The State of Texas has made tremendous progress in upholding the integrity of our elections," Abbott wrote in a news release. "By increasing penalties for illegal voting, we will send an even clearer message that voter fraud will not be tolerated in Texas."

The addition of the item to the third special session agenda comes on the heels of an announcement by the secretary of state’s office that 2020 election results in four large Texas counties will be audited. That came in the wake of a letter from former President Donald Trump to Abbott urging an audit.

Among other things, the state's new elections law will prohibit drive-thru voting and threatens local elections officials with felony charges if they send mail-in voting applications to voters who don’t request one. Many of the provisions take aim at Harris County — which includes Houston and is a major Democratic stronghold — after leaders there expanded ways to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Texas or anywhere else in the country during the 2020 presidential election.