Crystal Mason

Crystal Mason is an African-American woman who was charged, convicted, and then acquitted for attempting to cast a vote while on federal supervised release during the 2016 United States presidential election.[1] Mason was under supervised release after completing a five-year sentence for tax fraud, and was ineligible to vote according to Texas voting laws. After finding her name was not on the sign-in sheets at her polling place, a poll worker helped Mason to cast a provisional ballot. She was convicted three months later for voter fraud and sentenced to five years imprisonment, a punishment that gained national attention.[2] On March 31, 2021 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to consider Mason's appeal,[3] and on March 28, 2024 her conviction was overturned.[4]

  1. ^ Halpern, Sue (December 18, 2019). "How Crystal Mason Became the Face of Voter Suppression in America". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on Jul 6, 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Mitch (March 21, 2020). "Texas judges deny Crystal Mason's appeal of her 5-year sentence for voting illegally". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Archived from the original on 2020-05-05. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Harper, Karen (2024-03-28). "Texas appeals court overturns Crystal Mason's conviction, 5-year sentence for illegal voting". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2024-03-29.