ACLU, TCRP File Amicus in Tarrant County Voter Prosecution Case

FORT WORTH — Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed an amicus brief in support of a motion for a new trial in Texas v. Mason. The defendant in that case, Crystal Mason, was criminally prosecuted and sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly casting a provisional ballot improperly.

“Pursuing felony charges for what appears to be an honest mistake with a provisional ballot is unwarranted and not what the law intended,” said Tommy Buser-Clancy, staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas. “We respectfully urge the Court to grant Ms. Mason a new trial and reconsider its judgment. ”

“Crystal Mason followed the process she believed to be correct by casting her provisional ballot,” said Beth Stevens, Voting Rights Director for the Texas Civil Rights Project. “Ms. Mason does not deserve to have her freedom taken away for an honest mistake in an already complicated process. We urge the Court to reconsider its judgement and grant a new trial."

There is no evidence of widespread voting fraud in the United States. Recently, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found only two cases of in-person voter fraud out of 20 million votes cast.