The Court of Appeals of the Second Appellate District of Texas recently overturned a voter fraud conviction. The case involved a Texas woman who voted while on supervised release for a prior felony conviction. Current Texas law prohibits those convicted of a felony to vote in the state until they have “fully completed” their sentences.
The woman, Crystal Mason, a resident of Fort Worth, had been sentenced to five years for voter fraud. The decision had provoked widespread protest from rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The conviction was based on Texas Election Code Section 64.012(a)(1), which criminalizes knowingly or intentionally voting or attempting to vote in an election when you’re not eligible.
In 2021, a coalition of prosecutors and officials across different political spectrums submitted an amicus brief backing Mason. The brief found its way into the appeal argument, stating that “the prosecution of Ms. Mason was inconsistent with Texas’s illegal voting statute and with the fundamental principles of prosecutorial discretion.”
The appeal Judge, Wade Birdwell, concluded that the state could not prove that Mason knew she was on supervised release and understood this made her ineligible to vote. While the ballot contained language to caution former felons about potential legal implications, the court deemed it too vague to ascertain that Mason realized the risk of submitting a ballot, had she read the notice.
With the evidence deemed insufficient to maintain the voter fraud conviction, the court reversed the conviction, ending a six-year legal battle led by Mason.