It happened on the fateful day of Presidential Elections 2016 when Crystal Mason went out to vote as per her mother’s command. Little did she know that it was the beginning of long agony-filled years ahead.
She voted in a provisional ballot instead of a polling booth in Tarrant County, Texas as her name didn’t appear in the official voting list.
Unfortunately, Mason’s name was never tallied officially, as she was ineligible to vote for being on a supervised release from jail after serving five years in jail due to a tax fraud case.
This little act left her deprived of all the energy and strength as she continuously deals with lengthy case dates and a felony which she had not expected at all.
She was even sentenced to five years in jail by State District Court on the charges of illegal vote procession. Crystal Mason remains unchanged in her argument that she had no idea that she was ineligible to cast a vote.
Her case has been shifted to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which is the highest court in the state for criminal cases and finally, a judge has given a nod to hear her.
Mason filed a new appeal to be heard in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals where her case is reported to be advanced to the Federal Court System.
Mason’s lawyer, Alison Grinter has claimed that Mason’s case does not qualify to be a criminal one because, under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the provisional ballots represent “an offer to vote- but they are not a vote themselves”.
Grinter claimed that her client was unaware of the fact that she was ineligible yet she was still convicted and was termed as guilty for the crime she committed unknowingly.
Mason was found guilty in March 2018 by Judge Ruben Gonzalez of Texas 432nd District Court, for a second-degree felony because of voting illegally.
