Appeals court rules Mason, now 49, did not know she was ineligible when she voted in 2016 and throws out conviction

A Texas appeals court has thrown out a five-year prison sentence for Crystal Mason, a Texas woman who was sentenced for trying to cast a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election that was rejected.

Mason, now 49, attempted to vote in Fort Worth in the 2016 even though she was ineligible because she was still on supervised release – which is like probation – for a tax felony. She has always maintained she had no idea she was ineligible and only tried to cast a ballot because her mother urged her to.

A judge convicted her in a 2018 trial that lasted just a few hours.

    • Flying Squid
      9•8 months ago

      Agreed. Felons should be allowed to vote. Pirsoners should be allowed to vote. Just because you committed a crime doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be allowed to participate in a democratic election. There is, as far as I can remember, nothing in the Constitution that bars felons or the incarcerated from voting.

      Not to mention that people in jail waiting for trial who can’t afford bail aren’t allowed to vote either if the election happens while they’re in jail, even though there’s been no conviction.

      • @[email protected]English
        7•8 months ago

        In Germany there are only a few crimes that take away your voting rights and I am fine with these:

        • preparation of a war of aggression and high treason against the Federation
        • treason and disclosure of state secrets with intent to cause damage
        • attacks against organs and representatives of foreign states
        • disruption of election process and falsification of election documents
        • bribing delegates
        • sabotage against means of defence or intelligence activity endangering national security (provided that a sentence of imprisonment is imposed for at least one year in this case).

        source

        • @SkyezOpen
          7•8 months ago

          disruption of election process and falsification of election documents

          Seems like a good one. We should borrow that.

          bribing delegates

          I’ll have you know it’s called lobbying and it’s perfectly legal! For some reason.

    • proleEnglish
      8•8 months ago

      Especially when prisoners are counted toward a state’s apportionment. Now you end up with evil conservative scumbags petitioning to have prisons in their states/districts so they get those extra resources, without all of those damn liberal votes.