TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — Crystal Mason, a Tarrant County woman who was convicted of illegal voting in 2016 after submitting a provisional ballot that was never counted, had her conviction reversed on Thursday.
The Texas Second Court of Appeals acquitted Mason, who faced five years in prison for the conviction.
“I am overjoyed to see my faith rewarded today,” said Crystal Mason in a statement. “I was thrown into this fight for voting rights and will keep swinging to ensure no one else has to face what I’ve endured for over six years, a political ploy where minority voting rights are under attack. I’ve cried and prayed every night for over six years straight that I would remain a free Black woman. I thank everyone whose dedication and support carried me through this time and look forward to celebrating this moment with my family and friends.”
Mason was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, as well as the ACLU, Texas Civil Rights Project, and attorneys Alison Grinter Allen and KimCole.
“We are relieved for Ms. Mason, who has waited for too long with uncertainty about whether she would be imprisoned and separated from her family for five years simply for trying to do her civic duty,” says Thomas Buser-Clancy, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, in a statement. “The harms of the criminal prosecution can never fully be undone, but this decision is vindication for Ms. Mason and a win for our democracy, which can only thrive when people can fearlessly engage in the civic process.”
Grinter Allen said in a statement that this conviction never should have happened.
Crystal and her family have suffered for over six years as the target of a vanity project by Texas political leaders,” said Grinter Allen in a statement. “We’re happy that the court saw this for the perversion of justice that it is, but the harm that this political prosecution has done to shake Americans’ confidence in their own franchise is incalculable.”