Crystal Mason
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (January 24, 2020) – Crystal Mason, of suburban Fort Worth, is headed to Prairie View A&M University on Jan. 27. She will share her story with political science classes and be the focus of an evening symposium on voter suppression.
“Just letting them know how important it is to be educated and to vote,” Mason shared about her life mission. “Because of my circumstance of being a political prisoner. It’s more than just [voting in] the presidential election. It starts right here at home with local elections.”
In 2016, Mason was on federal supervised release after serving almost three years in prison for tax fraud. She left work early on Election Day to go vote in Tarrant County at the same polling location she had voted in prior years. Because her name wasn’t on the list of registered voters, she had the option to fill out a provisional ballot, and she did.
In the small print of the form, it read: “I understand that it is a felony of the 2nd degree to vote in an election for which I know I am not eligible.” According to Mason and several media reports of her one-day, non-jury trial, she didn’t read those words, focused on correctly entering her personal information.
State District Judge Ruben Gonzalez sentenced the mom of three—who was 43 years old at the time–to five years in the state penitentiary.
Mason is seeking a new trial based on claims of “inadequate counsel and a lack of clarity in the law.” According to The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas, which is supporting Mason’s appeal, no one told her that she wasn’t allowed to vote until her federal supervised release was over. It sees her case as one of voter suppression and harsh.
The ACLU of Texas discovered her provisional ballot was never counted, which is another reason why her 2018 conviction is being appealed.
Despite her legal battle, Mason is on a mission to get every eligible voter to exercise that right. At PVAMU, she will attend three American Government classes being taught by lecturer Lee A. McGriggs, Ph.D., and she expects lots of questions from students.
“The one question that I always get asked is, ‘So, no one told you that you couldn’t vote?’ And I say, ‘Yes! That’s exactly what I’m saying!’ When I left in [20]12, I voted. When I came home in [20]16, I didn’t know that right was stricken from me. Voting was something of a norm; it was something that I did.”
Another one of Mason’s goals is to encourage all who hear her story to vote and get educated on the issues and candidates running for office.
“Learn and know who’s running for office. What are their goals? What are they planning on doing for the community?” she recommended. “Go to these community meetings. Go to the city council meetings.”
During her legal case, Mason did her background on the race for the seat held by Gonzalez. What she found saddened her, but also motivated her to empower others.
“With the judge that sentenced me to five years,” Mason said, “He didn’t have anybody to run against him! He just automatically got in the seat again.”
That’s why part of her story includes voter education.
“Get educated on what is the [candidates’] purpose, their plans, and what they’re going to do for these cities and the community before you just vote for someone,” the Rendon, Texas-native recommended.
Mason is headed to “The Hill” as a guest of PVAMU’s College Democrats. Alumnus DeWayne Charleston is sponsoring her voter education trip to Houston.
“In Crystal’s case, not only did she not have her vote counted, but she got arrested at her job and sentenced to five years in prison,” Charleston said. “Those of us doing voter registration in [the city of] Prairie View and those of us doing voter registration anywhere, we have an added responsibility to make sure that when people register, they register right.”
While serving ten months of the five-year sentence for wrongful voting, officials with the State of Texas created a form about voting eligibility for parolees, according to Mason and the ACLU.
“That’s what’s hurtful to me….You knew you made a mistake, that’s why you corrected it, and you have a form now for us to sign,” she said.
Mason is waiting for a Fort Worth appeals court to hear her case.
“I’m in counseling right now, being paid for by the federal government,” Mason said about her mental stress. “It’s hurtful. But I’m not going to let that deter me from allowing my story to get out there. Go to the [voting] polls, because we can make a difference.”
The Voting Rights and Education Symposium is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the A.I. Thomas Auditorium on the campus of Prairie View A&M University.
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By Michael Douglas