Texas Botches Voter Fraud Case
In 2012, former tax preparer Crystal Mason was convicted of inflating tax refunds for her clients.
She served nearly three years of a five-year sentence and was then placed on three years of supervised release.
As a convicted felon, she was barred from voting. In 2016, while still under supervision, she went to vote, claiming she didn’t know her felony status made her ineligible.
Since she wasn’t registered at the polling place, officials gave her a provisional ballot.
The form included information she didn’t read, which would have alerted her to her ineligibility.
Provisional ballots with discrepancies are usually rejected, and hers was no different. Despite her ballot not counting—meaning she didn’t vote—Mason was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to five more years in prison.
The ACLU stepped in, representing her in an appeal of the conviction.
Mason’s case has become an extreme example of someone being punished for voter fraud without having cast a fraudulent vote.
Comparisons have been drawn to the case of former House Speaker Tom DeLay, who successfully appealed his conviction, claiming he didn’t know he was committing a crime.
Supporters argued that Mason should receive similar consideration. According to the chief counsel for the League of Women Voters,
Mason's case sends a clear message to those with felony convictions:
"She's being made an example, and the example is that you don't want returning citizens, Black people, Black women to vote. That's an egregious narrative, and we have to push back on that because that's not how democracy works."
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The Misuse of Election Integrity as a Pretext for Voter Intimidation
After the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump, now facing 91 criminal charges in four separate cases, falsely claimed widespread voter fraud to overturn the results.
His claims have inspired Republican politicians across the country to use “election integrity” as a tactic to suppress and intimidate voters.
Trump's initial wave of voter intimidation began when he and his MAGA supporters targeted a mother and daughter who worked as poll workers, subjecting them to harassment.
There are clear signs that, despite the charges he faces, Trump will attempt to interfere with the 2024 election.
His loyalists have inserted themselves into key positions of power, giving them more control over election processes.
In response, Texas Governor Greg Abbott quickly passed Senate Bill 1 in 2021, tightening voting regulations to make such control easier.
Regarding Crystal Mason, Senate Bill 1 originally contained a provision stating that "a person should not be criminally incarcerated for making an innocent mistake."
However, Senate negotiators removed this provision at the last minute. Since the bill’s passage, Governor Abbott’s office announced the removal of 1.1 million voters from the state's rolls.
Voter Intimidation Continues
Meanwhile, another MAGA-aligned politician, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has lashed out at those involved in his impeachment and indictment, which were abruptly halted.
As a staunch Trump loyalist, Paxton is targeting organizations like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and liberal politicians.
He has led raids, confiscated devices, and collected documents under the guise of ensuring "election integrity," when in reality, these actions serve to intimidate the opposition.
[Featured image "Gaming the Vote. Keith Knight, pen, ink ©2018. “This BINGO is no fun for the millions of US citizens targeted by state-sanctioned disenfranchisement. Reflecting the Republican lust for power, voter suppression is thriving. The 2013 Supreme Court" by Heidi De Vries via Flickr / CC BY 2.0]
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