Key facts
- Crystal Mason, 51, was acquitted by the Texas court of criminal appeals in a controversial illegal voting case.
- Mason was convicted in 2018 for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election while on supervised release for a federal tax felony.
- The provisional ballot Mason cast was not counted.
- Mason maintained she did not read the affidavit she signed and was unaware she could not vote.
- Federal probation officials testified they never told her she could not vote.
- The case has been ongoing for nearly a decade.
The nearly decade-long legal battle of Crystal Mason, a Black Texas woman convicted of illegal voting, has concluded with an acquittal. The Texas court of criminal appeals, the state's highest criminal court, announced on Thursday that it would not hear an appeal in the case, effectively letting a previous acquittal stand. Mason, 51, was initially sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election. At the time, she was on supervised release for a federal tax felony, and Texas law prohibits individuals with felony convictions from voting while on probation. Mason has consistently maintained that her vote was an innocent mistake, stating she did not read the affidavit she signed and was unaware of the voting restriction. Federal probation officials also testified that they had not informed her she could not vote. Prosecutors argued that by signing the affidavit and swearing to its truthfulness, Mason knew she was ineligible. The case drew significant attention and criticism due to the severity of the sentence for what Mason and her supporters described as an unintentional error, particularly amid heightened concerns about voter fraud. The ACLU, which represented Mason, stated the ruling affirms the right to civic participation without fear of imprisonment. The court's decision came in a 5-4 ruling, with four justices dissenting and arguing there was sufficient evidence that Mason knew she was ineligible when she cast her ballot. Mason spent 10 months in federal prison as a consequence of her conviction, during which time she faced financial hardship, including the near-foreclosure of her home.