Crystal Mason’s Tarrant County illegal voting case sent back to lower court

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is sending Crystal Mason’s illegal voting case back to a lower court to review whether she knew it was a crime for her to vote while on supervised release. Mason, of Rendon, sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 after being convicted of illegal voting in Tarrant County. She submitted a provisional ballot that was ultimately not counted during the 2016 election while she was on federally supervised release in a tax fraud case. Mason has said she didn’t know she wasn’t allowed to vote, and in March 2018 she was convicted of illegally voting, a decision that was affirmed by the 2nd Court of Appeals.

Texas’ highest criminal appellate court on Wednesday found that the court erred by “failing to require proof” that Mason had “actual knowledge that it was a crime for her to vote while on supervised release” and sent the case back to the 2nd Court of Appeals to evaluate the sufficiency of the evidence. “I am pleased that the court acknowledged issues with my conviction, and am ready to defend myself against these cruel charges,” Mason said in a statement. “My life has been upended for what was, at worst, an innocent misunderstanding of casting a provisional ballot that was never even counted. I have been called to this fight for voting rights and will continue to serve my community.” Her attorneys argued in a December brief that an election law passed last year supports the reversal of Mason’s conviction. Senate Bill 1 states that “a person may not be convicted solely upon the fact that the person signed a provisional ballot affidavit ... unless corroborated by other evidence that the person knowingly committed the offense.” The Tarrant County District Attorney’s office argued in a subsequent court document that Mason ignores the term “solely” and the part of the law that allows for corroboration with other evidence. The office declined to comment because the case is pending.