The Texas Court docket of Prison Appeals ordered a decrease courtroom to evaluate the case towards Crystal Mason, who was convicted of unlawful voting in 2016 and sentenced to 5 years.
Mason voted within the 2016 election whereas she was on supervised launch after being launched from jail on federal tax evasion expenses. In 2018, Mason was convicted of a second-degree felony and sentenced to 5 years in jail. Mason is at the moment out on bond.
Based on Mason’s legal professional, Alison Grinter Allen, Mason was unaware she couldn’t vote as a result of though she was out of jail, her sentence was not accomplished. Mason, who wasn’t on the state’s voter rolls, used a provisional poll to vote, which was not counted.
NPR studies The Texas Court docket of Prison Appeals decided a decrease courtroom mistakenly upheld Mason’s conviction by “failing to require proof that [Mason] had precise information that it was a criminal offense for her to vote whereas on supervised launch.”
The case will now return to the Court docket of Appeals, the place it was ordered to take up the case with the brand new directive from the upper courtroom.
Final yr, Texas Republicans handed a controversial voting restrictions invoice that created new felony penalties for many who help voters in-person or by mail and elevated penalties for current election crimes.
The invoice additionally included provisions aimed toward stopping one other case like Mason’s. A provision within the regulation states an individual “is probably not convicted solely upon the truth that the particular person signed a provisional poll affidavit … until corroborated by different proof that the particular person knowingly dedicated the offense.”
“The modification clarifies {that a} provisional poll affidavit alone is inadequate proof that the particular person MASON ― knowingly dedicated the offense,” the courtroom wrote in its choice. “Corroboration by different proof is required for conviction.”
Voting rights advocates fought the invoice’s passing, saying it will result in folks being arrested and charged for making sincere errors whereas voting. Advocates additionally stated the regulation disproportionately impacts communities of shade within the state. Texas Democrats have been so towards the invoice many fled the state to dam the invoice from being voted on.
