Texas mother who faced 5 years in prison has illegal voting conviction reversed
Source: CNN
Published 4:09 AM EDT, Fri March 29, 2024
CNN A Texas mother who was sentenced to five years in prison for voting illegally in the 2016 election said she is overjoyed after her conviction was reversed Thursday by the Texas Second Court of Appeals. Crystal Mason, a Black mother of three, was on supervised release after serving time for tax fraud when she filled out a provisional ballot in the 2016 election. She said she did not know her status as a felon on release made her ineligible to cast a ballot.
After considering the dispositive issue remanded to uswhether the evidence was sufficient to support Crystal Masons conviction for illegal voting under the Texas Election Codewe reverse the trial courts judgment and render judgment acquitting her, the court said in its opinion. Mason celebrated the courts decision, which she has been waiting for since 2019, when she appealed her five-year sentence.
I am overjoyed to see my faith rewarded today, Mason said in a statement shared by ACLU of Texas. I was thrown into this fight for voting rights and will keep swinging to ensure no one else has to face what Ive endured for over six years, a political ploy where minority voting rights are under attack. Ive cried and prayed every night for over six years straight that I would remain a free Black woman.
After Mason was convicted, voting rights activists compared her case to other voter fraud convictions involving White defendants who received more lenient sentences.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/29/us/texas-woman-voting-conviction-reversed/index.html
MissMillie
(38,579 posts)Casting a PROVISIONAL ballot should not be a crime.
We know laws are complicated and she was given bad advice, but that is part of why we HAVE the provisional ballot--to catch errors.
The humane response to an unaccepted provisional ballot would be a call/letter saying your vote didn't get counted because A, B or C...but laws are seldom written humanely in our country.
yellowdogintexas
(22,270 posts)That is done regardless of the reason the voter is not on the registry. If the voter needs to do something to clear that ballot, we let them know. If she did not receive the communication or respond, the vote would not have counted.
I suspect her parole information was found when the Ballot Board was trying to determine her eligibility. I do not know what the process is after the Ballot Board review is completed.
What I do know is that judge needs to retire.
Maeve
(42,288 posts)And the prosecutor that brought the charges needs to go, as well
Hotler
(11,445 posts)mpcamb
(2,875 posts)Georgia Republican official and outspoken election denier caught voting illegally 9 times( headline- USA TODAY)
A judge has found Georgia Republican Party official Brian Pritchard guilty of illegally voting nine times over several years. Pritchard has falsely asserted Democrats had stolen the 2020 election through fraud.
Administrative Law Judge Lisa Boggs wrote in her Wednesday decision that Pritchard, the Georgia GOPs first vice chairman, violated state election laws by voting while on probation for forgery and other felonies, and that his explanations were neither "credible or convincing."
Pritchard must pay a $5,000 fine and $375.14 in investigative costs incurred by the court. Boggs also ordered that Pritchard be publicly reprimanded for his conduct by the State Election Board, which sought the sanctions against him.
I haven't heard of any Democrats who were proven to having voted illegally. Anyone?
Excellent news for this lady!
RandomNumbers
(17,600 posts)Don't tell me, let me guess! He's white!
atreides1
(16,093 posts)...before Paxton sticks his nose into this case and attempts to get the Texas Supreme Court to overturn this decision?
yellowdogintexas
(22,270 posts)Of course a court could refuse to hear it.
mountain grammy
(26,648 posts)yellowdogintexas
(22,270 posts)I work elections in Tarrant County (Fort Worth) and I would have offered a provisional ballot to Crystal. We are required to do so; in training we are told to NEVER refuse a voter.
I could not believe how hard the judge came down on her and I am glad this has been completed
LiberalFighter
(51,084 posts)LeftInTX
(25,553 posts)We get so many DVRs kicked out because they failed to have the voter check, "Are you United States Citizen".
Seriously, the print is so small, that no one can see it on the voter registration application.
yellowdogintexas
(22,270 posts)however we are not trained on the fine details regarding provisional ballots.
The focus is to be sure we know what needs to be on the envelope, with emphasis on signatures from voter and election worker, that it is all sealed up then placed in the special bag which is just for provisionals. It is flaming orange which makes it easy for all the provisionals to get to the right place when we turn everything in that night
We also are not instructed to quiz a voter about circumstances which could have resulted in not being on the rolls. Usually when we can't find a voter, I will ask if they have moved a couple of times (which is usually the reason they are off the rolls) . Sometimes they are registered, just not in our county. We let them vote anyway, but their ballot will be limited to statewide races. It absolutely would never have occurred to me to ask if a voter is on parole!
Which all goes back to this: The time to confirm your registration and eligibility is NOW; this gives you plenty of time to resolve any issues.
nwduke
(352 posts)Trump!🤬