What you need to know about the 2020 U.S. elections 3:23
(CNN) ––
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation on Thursday limiting the number of places to deliver vote-by-mail ballots, nearly a month before the election.
The order stipulates that there be only one site per county.
The measure significantly affects the Democratic stronghold of Harris County.
Just the largest county in the state by population - one of the most populous in the entire country - and it covers a huge area.
Now, you need to reduce your 11 delivery locations to just one starting this Friday.
Travis County, which includes the Democrat-trusted city of Austin, should also limit its four delivery locations to one.
Other large counties, such as Tarrant, Dallas and El Paso, previously had only one delivery location.
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The Republican governor explained in a statement that the order was issued to improve ballot security.
The decision also allows election observers to track voter delivery of ballots by mail.
However, critics say this could severely limit access for many voters.
"The state of Texas has a duty to the voters to maintain the integrity of our elections," said Abbott.
“As we work to preserve the voting power of Texans during the COVID-19 pandemic, we must take special care to strengthen ballot security protocols across the state.
These enhanced security protocols will ensure greater transparency and help stop illegal voting attempts, ”he added.
Democrats criticize Texas decision ahead of election
The decision has already drawn criticism from Texas Democrats.
The chairman of the state Democratic Party, Gilberto Hinojosa, called it a "blatant voter suppression tactic."
The Let America Vote group also criticized the move.
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"The governor makes it difficult for people to vote in the midst of a global pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 16,000 Texans," the group said in a statement.
"It is a shameful and blatant act of voter suppression, which will disproportionately affect the large number of Black and Latino voters in the largest counties in Texas."
Julian Castro, a former Democratic presidential hopeful and native of Texas, similarly viewed Abbott's decision.
In that regard, he singled out it as an effort to make voting "more difficult for Texans."
Castro tweeted that Governor Abbott "knows how angry Texans are at Trump's failure, (Republican Senator John's) Cornyn's failure, and his own failure to keep Texans and our people safe at work."
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Last July, Abbott issued an order extending the time for early voting by six days and for hand-delivery of ballots by mail.
This is due to security reasons related to the pandemic.
However, a couple of recent court rulings angered Texas Democrats and voting rights activists.
One of the decisions was in favor of the age limits for voting by mail without exceptions.
The other was against mailing ballot applications to Harris County residents.
A status that may be in dispute
Texas has traditionally been a Republican state in elections for the past several decades.
However, Democrats believe it will be in dispute during the November elections.
Multiple polls have recorded a close race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden in the state.
Some polls indicated that the difference between the candidates was only 1 point in July.
The concerns voiced by Abbott about "illegal voting attempts" in Texas come as the president continues to lean toward a conspiratorial message about the US election process.
And, in particular, voting by mail.
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Although very rare cases of vote-by-mail fraud do occur, it is by no means a widespread problem in the US electoral system.
In fact, mail ballot fraud is extremely rare.
In part because states have systems and processes to prevent counterfeiting, theft, and electoral fraud.
These systems work for both absentee ballots and ballots mailed to state voters.
Elections 2020 United StatesTexas