Court reviews case of Texan woman acquitted of illegal voting charges

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The state's highest criminal court has agreed to review the case of Crystal Mason, who was charged with voting illegally in Tarrant County in 2016 but was later acquitted.

When Mason voted, she was on supervised release for tax evasion. Under Texas state law, people convicted of a serious crime are not allowed to vote while on probation. Mason has claimed she did not know she was ineligible to vote and she cast a provisional ballot that day, but it was never counted.

Mason was sentenced to five years in prison for voting illegally. She fought her conviction for years, and in March the Second Court of Appeals in Tarrant County overturned the verdict. The judges ruled that there was no evidence that Mason knew she was ineligible to vote. That knowledge is a prerequisite for declaring a vote illegal, the court said.

The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office asked the criminal appeals court to overturn the decision, and on Wednesday the court agreed to take up the case.

“While I am ready to close this case and uphold my acquittal, I will continue to hold on to my faith that justice will be done,” Mason said in a press release from the ACLU of Texas.

Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells explained why he appealed the Mason case in a briefing before county commissioners in May.

“I want potential illegal voters to know that we are watching them,” he said.

The county argues that Mason knew she was not allowed to vote because she signed an affidavit at the polling place explaining the rules.

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