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After Crystal Mason solid a poll within the 2016 presidential election in Tarrant County whereas on supervised launch for tax fraud, she turned a nationwide determine in a persistent battle between voting rights advocates and officers drawing a tough line towards unlawful voting.
Mason was sentenced to 5 years in jail for illegally casting a provisional poll in that election, regardless that she says she didn’t understand that her legal standing made her ineligible to vote. A authorized battle over her conviction is ongoing. However consultants say the high-profile political firestorm surrounding her case additionally continues to dissuade eligible Texas voters who’ve been arrested, convicted of misdemeanors or accomplished their felony sentences from casting ballots — regardless that they’re legally allowed to take part in elections. “People believe they lose their right to vote simply because they were arrested,” mentioned Bob Libal, a legal justice advocate in Texas who works nationally to revive voting rights for individuals with convictions.
Texas legislation prevents convicted felons who’re nonetheless finishing their sentence, together with any interval of parole, group supervision and probation, from voting. However Texans are nonetheless allowed to solid ballots if they’ve been convicted of a misdemeanor (even when they’re at present serving a sentence) or are in jail awaiting trial on any legal offense. And, below a little-known elections legislation, Texas felons who’re actively interesting their convictions can legally solid a poll, even when they’re in jail.
This election cycle, there’s most likely no extra high-profile instance of somebody retaining the appropriate to vote after being accused or convicted of a criminal offense than the Republican presidential nominee. Former President Donald Trump will nonetheless be capable of solid a poll in Florida regardless that he was convicted on 34 state felony counts in New York, making him the primary convicted felon to run for president.
That’s as a result of Florida, the place Trump maintains residency, defers to the legal guidelines of the state the place the conviction occurred, and New York legislation solely blocks individuals convicted of felonies from voting whereas they’re incarcerated. Trump’s sentencing has been delayed till after the election.
In Texas, about 55,000 persons are being held in county jails awaiting trial and are eligible to vote, in keeping with knowledge from the Texas Fee on Jail Requirements. That doesn’t imply it’s simple for them to solid a poll.
Solely Dallas and Harris counties have Election Day polling locations open to individuals in jail. And whereas individuals confined in jail can apply to vote early by mail below Texas legislation, the applying for a mail-in poll is due Oct. 25. That deadline leaves individuals who have been arrested after that date and earlier than Election Day with no avenue to solid a poll.
Accessing a vote by mail software whereas incarcerated isn’t easy. In some counties, advocacy teams go to the jail to distribute the types. In different counties, individuals don’t even understand they’ll ask for the shape. The Secretary of State’s Workplace doesn’t monitor how many individuals in jail request a poll by mail.
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“A lot of folks have this narrative that once you have a criminal background, you can’t vote,” mentioned Jasmine Ross, who works for the Colorado Prison Justice Reform Coalition. “That is true in some states, but we don’t practice permanent disenfranchisement here.”
Harris County was the first within the state to create a jail primarily based voting program in 2021. Election officers arrange voting machines within the county jail, with the polling place open to most of the people, a authorized requirement. Jail workers transport inmates who elect to vote to the polling place all through Election Day.
Phillip Bosquez, assistant chief at Harris County Sheriff’s Workplace, mentioned inmates don’t want their ID to vote. They merely present an election official their wristband, which incorporates their title and date of start, after which solid a poll.
“I’m glad we were the first in Texas to do it,” Bosquez mentioned. “And I absolutely think it can be replicated without a huge drain on the system.”
Texas lawmakers final yr filed a invoice that may prohibit polling locations in jails, however the laws by no means obtained traction. The invoice’s writer, Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, didn’t reply to inquiries about why she carried the invoice.
Colorado, in the meantime, turned the primary state this yr to go a legislation mandating counties present a jail-based polling location. The brand new legislation additionally requires jails to arrange a spot for mail-in ballots to be deposited.
Advocates say that legal guidelines like Colorado’s will assist incarcerated individuals higher transition again into their communities and scale back charges of recidivism.
“It really makes people feel like they are participating and involved in their community,” Ross mentioned. “The most consistent feedback is that it’s a way for them to think differently about how they can do better and how they can contribute to their communities.”
Analysis has discovered that people who had their voting rights restored post-incarceration had a decrease chance of re-arrest in comparison with individuals who have been prohibited from voting.
Different states have additionally taken motion to revive voting rights. In 2023, Minnesota and New Mexico restored the appropriate to vote for people who find themselves on felony probation or parole. And in 2020, Washington, D.C. handed a legislation permitting people incarcerated for a felony conviction to vote.
However the diversified guidelines elsewhere solely provides to confusion that may forestall individuals with legal fees or convictions from voting, even when they’re legally allowed to take action.
“One of the challenges is that there’s an extremely confusing patchwork of laws across the country when it comes to voting rights for people with felony convictions,” Libal mentioned.
In March, a Texas appeals court docket overturned Mason’s conviction, acquitting her of the felony cost and seemingly placing an finish to the eight-year saga. The court docket mentioned there was no proof that Mason knew she was ineligible to vote, a situation that have to be met to convict somebody of illegally voting in Texas.
The next month, although, Tarrant County District Lawyer Phil Sorrells introduced that he needed Mason’s conviction reinstated. Sorrell’s workplace argued that Mason was pretty convicted, pointing to testimony from election workers who mentioned Mason signed an affidavit requiring people to swear that “if a felon, I have completed all my punishment, including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or I have been pardoned.”
“I want would-be illegal voters to know that we’re watching,” Sorrell instructed County Commissioners throughout a Could briefing about why he was resurfacing the case.
The state and Mason’s legal professionals have filed briefs to the Courtroom of Prison Appeals. Mason’s legal professionals argue that the court docket ought to reaffirm the choice to acquit Mason, arguing she had no thought she was ineligible to vote. A closing determination in Mason’s case may take months, mentioned Savannah Kumar, an legal professional representing her.
“It’s important to keep in mind that the highest criminal court in Texas has already made clear that innocent mistakes are not enough to get Texans thrown in prison,” Kumar mentioned.
