Woman Given 5 Years In Prison For Illegally Voting Says She Didn’t Know She Was Ineligible
Crystal Mason was sentenced to five years by a judge for illegally voting in 2016. Mason is a convicted felon who told the court that she did not know the law prohibited her from voting until she served all of her sentence, including federal supervised release. [Photo: Courtesy - Crystal Mason]
Crystal Mason’s mom insisted that she vote in the 2016 presidential election, but when she went to her polling place in Tarrant County, Texas, she found her name wasn’t on the rolls. A poll worker helped her fill out a provisional ballot, of the sort given to people who aren’t on the rolls, and she cast it.
On Wednesday, state District Judge Ruben Gonzalez sentenced Mason to five years in prison for illegally voting, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Mason says she had no idea she was ineligible, but Gonzalez pointed out that an affidavit at the top of the provisional ballot notes that people on supervised release can’t vote.
Sam Levine, writing for The Huffington Post, shares the amazing story of Crystal Mason. Mason’s story is also the subject of ‘Shut Out,’ a new HuffPo podcast, which you can listen to HERE.