Crystal Mason, a grandmother and pillar of her Fort Worth community, was criminally prosecuted and sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly casting a provisional ballot improperly.
The ACLU of Texas, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and the Texas Civil Rights Project, along with Alison Grinter and Kim Cole, represent Crystal Mason in challenging her conviction of illegal voting.
There is no evidence of widespread voting fraud in the United States. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found only two cases of in-person voter fraud out of 20 million votes cast.
Update April 24, 2018: The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed an amicus brief in support of a motion for a new trial in Texas v. Mason.
Update May 5, 2019: The ACLU of Texas, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and the Texas Civil Rights Project joined the legal team representing Crystal Mason to challenge her conviction of illegal voting. The civil rights groups will represent Crystal Mason in her upcoming hearing set before the Texas Court of Appeals. Attorneys will ask the court to either reverse the previous conviction and acquit her of the charge of illegal voting or order a new trial. The civil rights groups will be working with Ms. Mason’s current criminal attorneys, Alison Grinter and Kim Cole.
Update March 20, 2020: A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Second District of Texas denied Ms. Mason’s appeal. The organizations representing her will seek to have this decision re-heard by the full Second Court of Appeals.
Update November 30, 2020: Ms. Mason’s legal counsel has filed a petition requesting the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals review her case, reverse Ms. Mason’s previous conviction, and acquit her of the illegal voting charge. Her attorneys argue the lower court’s opinion conflicts with the Federal Help America Vote Act, the meaning of the term “vote” in Texas’ illegal voting statute, and a case involving former Republican U.S. Congressperson Tom DeLay, DeLay v. State, in which the Court of Criminal Appeals threw out his conviction on the basis that an individual must actually know that their conduct violates the election code.
Update May 11, 2022: The Court of Criminal Appeals issued a decision reversing in part the decision of the Court of Appeals. The Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that in order to show that someone commits the crime of illegal voting, the State must show that the person actually realized they were ineligible to vote. The court then sent the case back down to the Court of Appeals to determine whether the evidence showed that Ms. Mason knew she was ineligible to vote.
Update March 28, 2024: The Court of Appeals issued a decision reversing the trial court and rendering a judgment of acquittal. The court ruled that the evidence was not legally sufficient to show that Ms. Mason knew she was ineligible to vote.
