After a nearly decade-long legal fight, a Texas woman who was prosecuted for voting while ineligible has now had her conviction for that offense overturned. Crystal Mason’s case became a national dividing line, with conservatives using her as an example of voter fraud while her supporters argued that prosecutors were making an example of a woman who had made an honest and inconsequential mistake.
Crystal Mason acquitted after decade-long fight over illegal ballot
NBCDFW 5 reported that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed a 2024 court ruling that acquitted Crystal Mason of voting fraud, overturning her 2016 conviction on the charge. The appeals court, the highest court in the state, rejected prosecutors’ argument to restore Mason’s conviction for voting while still serving part of a sentence for a felony conviction; Texas citizens are ineligible to vote under such circumstances. Mason has always maintained that she did not know that she was ineligible to vote and was not properly informed of her status, while prosecutors argued that she knew her ballot was illegally cast. The appeals court on Thursday ruled that it had “improvidently granted” prosecutors’ request to rehear the case, thus letting the most recent ruling acquitting Mason stand. The ruling was a 5-4 split decision, with four of the judges holding that there was sufficient evidence to convict Mason. However, the majority decision to uphold Mason’s acquittal effectively shuts the door on the case, clearing her record of the fraudulent voting charge.
Mason’s legal fight has endured for nearly ten years. As Blavity previously reported, Mason voted in the 2016 election while on supervised release following a prison sentence for tax fraud. When Mason arrived at her polling place and her name was not found on the voter roll, she was given a provisional ballot to fill out. Mason has consistently claimed that she did not know that she was ineligible to vote until she had fulfilled all the requirements of her earlier conviction, that no one involved in the voting process informed her that she couldn’t legally vote, and that she did not understand an affidavit she signed declaring that she was eligible. Mason was convicted and given a sentence of five years in prison for voting as a felon, as well as an additional 10 months for violating the terms of her supervised release from her earlier tax fraud conviction. Organizations such as the Texas Civil Rights Project and both the national and Texas branches of the American Civil Liberties Union joined Mason’s legal team, arguing that she was being unfairly prosecuted for an honest mistake.
Mason’s case became a national issue in debates over voting rights, with conservatives pointing to her vote as justification for harsh laws and penalties for voter fraud and liberals arguing that Mason was being targeted and used as a scapegoat to justify voter suppression efforts. Even though Mason’s provisional ballot was never counted and thus did not impact the 2016 elections, prosecutors stood by their actions after the appeals court’s decision. “Illegal voting remains a crime in Texas,” said Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells in a statement about the decision. “If there is evidence that someone knowingly violates our election laws in Tarrant County, we will investigate it and, when the evidence supports it, prosecute it,” he added.
District attorney stands by prosecution and Mason celebrates legal victory
Mason, meanwhile, is simply celebrating her acquittal. “After 10 long years of fighting, I am overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. It’s hard to put into words how excited I am right now,” Mason wrote in a text message. “This journey has been long, exhausting, and emotional, but God has carried me through it all.” Since her conviction, Mason — who was not particularly active in politics before 2016 — has publicly campaigned on behalf of 2022 Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke and engaged in voter education outreach. Amid her nearly decade-long legal fight, Mason also noted one ironic moment: recently, she says, the wife of District Attorney Sorrells knocked on Mason’s door, campaigning for her husband and even asking Mason if she would consider voting for him. “The irony of that moment is something I will never forget,” Mason said of the incident.
Whether or not Mason remains politically active as a voter or a campaigner, she will no longer have a voter fraud conviction on her record. Thus, Thursday’s ruling ends a case that had divided the public and informed political debates over voting rights for nearly a decade.