TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office is asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reverse a ruling overturning Crystal Mason’s illegal voting conviction.
Mason was convicted in Tarrant County of illegal voting in 2016 after casting a provisional ballot that wasn’t counted. The conviction was reversed in March 2024. In their opinion, the Texas Second Court of Appeals stated that there was evidence showing Mason may not have known her felony conviction made her ineligible to vote.
In a press release, the district attorney’s office said the Tarrant County trial court’s verdict should be affirmed. The conviction was based on testimony from an election judge and poll clerk who said Mason read the provisional voter affidavit, signed it and that the language was clear that a convicted felon is not eligible to vote, the release reads.
“This office will protect the ballot box from fraudsters who think our laws don't apply to them,” the district attorney’s office said in a press release. “The Second Court of Appeals failed to give proper deference to the trial court's guilty verdict and reweighed the evidence in favor of Mason.”
The district attorney’s office went on to say the ruling could set a dangerous precedent for how cases considering the sufficiency of evidence are decided.
When Mason’s conviction was overturned in March, she said she prayed nightly that she would remain free.
“I am overjoyed to see my faith rewarded today,” she said in a March 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.”
In February 2023, Tarrant County created an election integrity task force aimed at investigating election-related crimes. In April, the unit announced it found that three people voted twice in the most recent primary but did not say whether they would face charges, the Star-Telegram reported.
