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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is facing some pushback from Republican leadership over his call to increase penalties for illegal voting. He added the issue to the third and current special session agenda Thursday, saying the provision for stiffer penalties was removed from the controversial election overhaul bill he signed into law in September. 

What You Need To Know

• Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday added an agenda item to the current special session of the Texas Legislature that calls on lawmakers to increase the penalty for illegal voting
• A provision in the elections bill Abbott signed in September reduced the penalty for illegal voting from a second-degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor
• Not all Republicans are on board with the agenda item. House Speaker Dade Plelan, R-Beaumont, tweeted that "now is not the time to re-litigate"
• The Texas Senate is slated to take up the issue beginning on Monday

And less than 24 hours after the governor added increased penalties for illegal voting to the special session agenda, a bill to do so was filed in the Senate. But it could stall in the lower chamber, where the speaker of the House indicated he doesn’t support revisiting the issue. 

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

“These are very serious offenses; they should have the very serious mark of a felony," said Chad Ennis, senior fellow with the Election Protection Project at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. 

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