#CrystalMason: #Texas woman sentenced to five years over voting error #acquitted. Appeals court rules Mason, now 49, did not know she was ineligible when she voted in 2016 and throws out conviction
A #Texas appeals court reversed the conviction of #CrystalMason, a Black woman, who had been sentenced to 5 yrs in prison on a charge of illegally voting in 2016, acquitting her in a case that #CivilRights attys cast as part of a broader fight for #VotingRights.
Mason voted w/a provisional ballot in 2016 but did not know she was ineligible to do so. The ballot WAS NOT COUNTED, but she was convicted in 2018.
#Texas 2nd Court of Appeals Judge Wade Birdwell ruled that there was not enough evidence to show #CrystalMason had known she was ineligible to vote.
The case had been seen as an example of a #GOP-led crackdown on alleged [BS] voter fraud in TX, & Mason’s attys framed it as an attempt at intimidating other voters, particularly people of color & those returning from prison, by making an example of Mason. #law#ElectionLaw#VoterIntimidation#VoteSuppression#BlackVotesMatter#democracy#VoteBlue
#CrystalMason, a fmr tax preparer, had served a prison sentence for fed tax fraud after pleading guilty to inflating her clients’ tax returns in 2012 & was on supervised release in 2016.
She didn’t know that made her ineligible to vote when she cast a provisional ballot at her polling place in #Texas. She went to vote w/her family & was told by a poll worker that she wasn’t on the rolls but could fill out a provisional ballot. #law#GOP#VoterIntimidation#BlackVotesMatter#democracy#VoteBlue
"Breaking news: Crystal Mason, the Texas woman who was sentenced to five years in prison for trying to submit a provisional ballot in 2016 that was rejected, has been acquitted on appeal. Story TK.
For the first time in 7-year legal case, court acknowledges that election officials had information at their disposal that could have easily identified why Mason was ineligible and could have prevented her from trying to vote."