Crystal Mason said she voted with a provisional ballot in 2016, but didn't know at the time that she wasn't eligible to vote. Although her vote was not counted, she was convicted of illegal voting in 2018.
Judge Wade Bardwell of Texas' Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that there was not enough evidence to show Mason knew he was ineligible to vote.
The case is seen as an example of a Republican-led crackdown on allegations of voter fraud in Texas, with Mason's lawyers casting the case as an attempt to intimidate other voters, especially people of color and people returning from prison. I had decided that there was. Masonry.
A visibly emotional Mason told reporters on a Zoom call Friday that she cried when she learned of the verdict.
“When I heard the news yesterday, I was just filled with joy. It's been a long journey,” she said through tears. “It's been really, really, really hard, but I'm really grateful.”
Mason, a former tax commissioner, was sentenced to prison for federal tax fraud in 2012 after pleading guilty to inflating his clients' tax returns, and was released on supervised release in 2016.
When she cast a provisional ballot at a polling place in Tarrant County, Texas, she said she didn't know it would disqualify her from voting. She said she went to vote with her family and a poll worker told her she wasn't on the list but could fill out a provisional ballot.
She never expected to be indicted so soon on charges of illegal voting. She later said that if she knew she was not allowed to vote, she would not have risked her freedom by submitting a ballot and she would have left the polling place. She said she was deaf.
Mason's vote was not counted because election officials who check provisional ballots, as they routinely do, later determined he was ineligible.
“The whole thing was like a nightmare. I kept thinking there was something wrong,” she wrote in a 2019 Washington Post opinion piece. (The Post's opinion section is run separately from the newsroom.) “I never thought that voting could get me in trouble.”
Prosecutors argued that Mason saw an affidavit on the provisional ballot and signed an affidavit warning that he would need to fulfill his felony conviction in order to vote.
She was sent back to prison for 10 months for violating the terms of her supervised release. She was convicted in 2018 by state District Judge Ruben Gonzalez.
On Thursday, Mr. Birdwell, a Republican, ruled that the state had not proven that Mr. Mason knew he could not vote and knowingly cast an illegal vote.
“[W]”We find that there is insufficient evidence to support Mason's guilt,” the judge wrote in his decision.
Even if Mason had read the affidavit, Bardwell said it would indicate that he is “ineligible to cast a provisional ballot and vote because he is on supervised release after completing his full sentence in federal prison.” It was determined that this was not sufficient to prove that she actually knew. ”
Thomas Bazaar Clancy, an ACLU lawyer involved in Mason's case, told reporters Friday that Birdwell's decision “sends a clear message that voters are free to exercise their civic duties.” He said that well-meaning voters should not fear that “they may be prosecuted if they: They slip up. ”
Mason's legal battle dragged on for several years, leaving him and his family uncertain about whether he would have to return to prison for five years. She and her lawyers said the damage done to her life during her 10 months incarceration was significant, including having to be separated from her children and losing her job. .
“This indictment is in no way intended to punish Crystal or to deter her from doing anything. This was created and designed to prevent Texas voters from exercising their right to vote. '' said attorney Alison Grinter Allen.
Her lawsuit is one of many allegations of voter fraud following the 2016 election, with eventual winner Donald Trump claiming widespread voter fraud even before the election. Including the Post's analysis, we found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
The Post reported that Republicans have failed to uncover rampant fraud schemes, especially after the 2020 election, when Republicans targeted overwhelmingly minorities and Democrats in their prosecutions of voter fraud.
Mason said Friday that since he was charged, he has formed a voting rights group. Now that she has been acquitted, she hopes to do more voter outreach and education.
“What I want people to take away from this is to never get discouraged. Know your rights,” she said. “Please don't be discouraged by my story and encourage me to vote.”
