Whitey Ford
03-29-2024, 06:31 PM
Texas woman acquitted of voter fraud in high profile case says it's her 'duty' to continue voting rights advocacy
https://i.imgur.com/wmBQFcR.jpg
Crystal Mason, a mother of three, was sentenced to spend five years in prison for casting a ballot in 2016 while she was a convicted felon on probation, but now a Texas appeals court has formally acquitted her after it determined the evidence to convict her of illegally voting simply did not muster up. “I am overjoyed to see my faith rewarded today,” Mason said, according to a statement released Thursday through her attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union. “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.”
From the outset, Mason said she was unaware that she was ineligible to vote in 2016 as a felon on supervised release for a federal tax crime. She told prosecutors that a poll worker had assisted her when she went to the booths in Tarrant County that year and it was under that guidance that she cast her ballot.
Mason had also testified that she had not read a series of disclaimers on a portion of the provisional ballot stating that felons could not vote and instead had relied on another poll worker who said she could. While prosecutors disputed this successfully in the past, Birdwell turned to her testimony to support his ruling:
The Texas woman whose five-year sentence for voter fraud was thrown out by an appeals court Thursday said she plans to strengthen her efforts to promote voting rights.
“If anything we are ramping up now that I have been acquitted. There will be no stopping of any kind,” Crystal Mason said in a statement Friday to NBC News.
“Stopping now would mean my story doesn’t have legs, leverage and longevity," she added. "It’s more than a passion, I feel it’s my duty.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/crystal-mason-says-duty-continue-voting-rights-advocacy-rcna145680
https://i.imgur.com/wmBQFcR.jpg
Crystal Mason, a mother of three, was sentenced to spend five years in prison for casting a ballot in 2016 while she was a convicted felon on probation, but now a Texas appeals court has formally acquitted her after it determined the evidence to convict her of illegally voting simply did not muster up. “I am overjoyed to see my faith rewarded today,” Mason said, according to a statement released Thursday through her attorneys at the American Civil Liberties Union. “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.”
From the outset, Mason said she was unaware that she was ineligible to vote in 2016 as a felon on supervised release for a federal tax crime. She told prosecutors that a poll worker had assisted her when she went to the booths in Tarrant County that year and it was under that guidance that she cast her ballot.
Mason had also testified that she had not read a series of disclaimers on a portion of the provisional ballot stating that felons could not vote and instead had relied on another poll worker who said she could. While prosecutors disputed this successfully in the past, Birdwell turned to her testimony to support his ruling:
The Texas woman whose five-year sentence for voter fraud was thrown out by an appeals court Thursday said she plans to strengthen her efforts to promote voting rights.
“If anything we are ramping up now that I have been acquitted. There will be no stopping of any kind,” Crystal Mason said in a statement Friday to NBC News.
“Stopping now would mean my story doesn’t have legs, leverage and longevity," she added. "It’s more than a passion, I feel it’s my duty.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/crystal-mason-says-duty-continue-voting-rights-advocacy-rcna145680