![\"Crystal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/CT_crystalpresser_06.jpg\" "\\"Crystal")
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Crystal Mason, center, and her attorneys answer questions regarding her acquittal in a high-profile voting rights case at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth on March 29, 2024. The Texas Second Court of Appeals reversed Mason\u2019s conviction, for which she had faced five years in prison after submitting a provisional ballot in Tarrant County in 2016 that was never counted as a vote.<\/p>\n
Chris Torres<\/p>\n
ctorres@star-telegram.com<\/p>\n
The highest criminal court in Texas ended a decade-long case for a North Texas mother when her 2016 illegal voting case was dismissed on Thursday, according to a news release from ACLU.<\/p>\n
In a 5-4 decision, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals<\/a> dismissed state prosecutors\u2019 appeal, ruling that its previous decision to review the acquittal was \u201cimprovident\u201d, according to court documents.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all these years, I never lost my faith that justice would be done. I am so happy my nightmare is over and I can move on,\u201d Mason said in the release. \u201dI hope people who hear my story are encouraged to make their voices heard and to get out and vote. If the right to vote weren\u2019t so important, they wouldn\u2019t be trying to take it away.\u201d<\/p>\n A lower court\u2019s decision, which is upheld by the appeals court ruling, vacates Mason\u2019s conviction and marks an end to nearly \u201cdecade-long legal battle to defend her innocence,\u201d the release stated.<\/p>\n Mason was accused of illegally voting with a provisional ballot in 2016 in Tarrant County while on supervised release for a 2012 tax fraud conviction. The vote was never counted, and her attorneys have argued that Mason did not know she was not eligible to vote.<\/p>\n Two years later, a state district judge found Mason guilty of voting illegally, sentencing her to five years in prison. Texas law forbids residents with felony judgments from voting until they have finished the full terms of their sentence. The case drew national and international attention over voter rights.<\/p>\n Mason was cleared of the illegal voting charge in March 2024 when the Texas 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth overturned the conviction<\/a>. The decision was appealed by the Tarrant County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a>, led by District Attorney Phil Sorrells.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a momentous day for voting rights in Texas. For nearly 10 years, Ms. Mason had to wake up each morning knowing the state was threatening to imprison her for simply doing her civic duty,\u201d her criminal defense attorney Alison Grinter said in the release. \u201cTomorrow, she\u2019ll wake up with that burden lifted, knowing that her effort to participate in our democracy should never have been criminalized and that she can continue to do the voter empowerment work that she has been championing for all of these years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are grateful that the Court allowed Crystal Mason\u2019s acquittal to stand and finally brought this nearly decade-long injustice to an end. For years, while Crystal lived with the agonizing threat of having her freedom ripped away, she turned her pain into purpose \u2014 educating and registering voters and fighting to protect the very right that led to her prosecution,\u201d civil defense attorney Kim T. Cole said in the release. \u201cHowever, justice does not end with an acquittal. Crystal suffered through years of legal battles against a prosecution which we have always maintained was politically motivated and never should have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Mason\u2019s case was prosecuted by the Tarrant County District Attorney\u2019s Office. In a statement Thursday, the DA\u2019s Office said that the appeals court kept the reversal of Mason\u2019s conviction in place without deciding on the merits of the prosecutors\u2019 arguments.<\/p>\n Prosecutors had argued that the 2nd Court of Appeals applied the wrong legal standard when evaluating the evidence. The DA\u2019s Office noted that four of the higher court judges dissented from the decision to dismiss the appeal. \u201cMultiple dissenting judges concluded the evidence was legally sufficient to support Mason\u2019s conviction,\u201d the DA\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n \u201cIllegal voting remains a crime in Texas,\u201d District Attorney Sorrells said in the release. \u201cIf there is evidence that someone knowingly violates our election laws in Tarrant County, we will investigate it and, when the evidence supports it, prosecute it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lawful vote should never be canceled out by an unlawful one. Voters deserve confidence that our elections are fair and that the law will be enforced,\u201d Sorrells said. \u201cOur responsibility has not changed: enforce the law fairly, protect the integrity of our elections, and pursue justice without fear or favor.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published September 24, 2026 at 5:14 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n