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Crystal Mason: Texas woman sentenced to five years over voting error acquitted
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2024
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Mason, now 49, attempted to vote in Fort Worth in the 2016 even though she was ineligible because she was still on supervised release – which is like probation – for a tax felony.Justice Wade Birdwell wrote for the court in its Thursday ruling: “We conclude that the quantum of the evidence presented in this case is insufficient to support the conclusion that Mason actually realized that she voted knowing that she was ineligible to do so and, therefore, insufficient to support her conviction for illegal voting.”
Mason, who has remained out of prison on an appeal bond, said in a telephone interview on Thursday evening that she received the news while going through a drive-through and became emotional.
A key piece of evidence in the case was testimony from the head poll worker, Mason’s neighbor, who assisted her with filling out the provisional ballot.
The affidavit is poorly designed – it crams an admonition in both English and Spanish in relatively small print on one side, and requires the voter to fill out information on the other.
Alison Grinter Allen, one of her lawyers, said: “Crystal has gone through so much, and all of Texas owes her a great debt of gratitude.
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