|   Crystal Mason had no idea she couldn’t vote three years ago. Texas prohibits convicted felons from voting while they’re serving their sentences, and in 2016, Mason was on supervised release for a felony. When a 16-year-old poll worker couldn’t find her name on the rolls on Election Day, he offered her the chance to vote with a provisional ballot. Mason filled out an affidavit, submitted it, and ultimately, election officials rejected it because she was ineligible.But that didn't stop Texas prosecutors from bringing charges against Mason and, after a bench trial that lasted just a few hours, successfully convinced a judge she had knowingly voted illegally. The severity of her five-year sentence made national news. Now Mason is fighting back, and last week she went before a judge to ask for a retrial.Here is Sam Levine, HuffPost's voting rights reporter, on Mason: Tell us about Crystal Mason. How long have you been following her story?
I first read about Crystal's case in March of 2018, right after she was convicted. Her severe sentence (5 years in prison) was getting a lot of attention and it immediately struck me as unusual. I spoke to her lawyer at the time and did a short story that essentially laid out that she was being sent to prison for five years knowing that she couldn't vote.Later that fall, we were working on a three-part podcast about voting rights in America, Shut Out, and one of the episodes focused on felon disenfranchisement. I wanted to include Crystal in that episode because her case so clearly illustrates the confusing obstacles people have to go through to understand whether they can vote. She was in federal prison at the time (she was sent back there after being convicted of illegal voting) so I wrote her a letter and sent it off. Within a few days, her daughter contacted me and said she would be willing to talk. The first time I spoke with Crystal she was in federal prison in Texas. We spoke for between 30 minutes and an hour. Crystal had email in prison. So every once in a while after we talked, I'd send her a note just checking in and seeing how things were going. Eventually she told me she was getting out of prison in May and I knew I wanted to go to Texas to meet her and see the impact the case had on her. Last week she appealed her case and asked for a new trial. What was it like spending time with her before her day in court? How do you strike a balance between reporting and observing?If I hadn't known that Crystal had a really big appeal hearing coming up, it would have been difficult to tell. Crystal has a big family (there are about 12 people who live in her house) and she is the one who pulls them all together, makes sure they have what they need and get where they need to go. We went to church with Crystal on her family on Sunday and a lot of the morning was her making sure everyone was up, dressed, fed and ready for church. When I'm with Crystal I really try and observe more than ask questions. I have my notepad and my recorder, but I try to only take them out when I really need to. It's a really scary feeling to invite a reporter into your home and know that they're watching everything you do. I try to make myself as invisible as possible and spent a lot of time looking at stuff on the walls or trying to notice small details. As soon as I leave I find somewhere I can sit down and dump all my notes and observations. Then when I get back to the hotel after a day of reporting I'll type all of those notes up. It gives me three levels of processing: once when I observe, the second when I write it in my notebook and the third when I type it up. Sometimes I'll only realize a detail is significant when I'm typing it up. What has surprised you about reporting on Crystal Mason?I've been surprised the most at the faith Crystal has in the criminal justice system will exonerate her. When we were with her this past weekend, she so deeply believed that the judges in her case would "do their jobs" and reverse her conviction. What's next for Crystal? What's next for what you report? Anything else you'd like to add?Crystal will remain out of prison on bond as long as she has appeals pending in the Texas courts. A ruling from the Texas Court of Appeals could come at any time, and if she loses, her lawyers say they will appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. That's Texas' highest criminal court and they could choose to hear or reject her case. If Crystal loses there, her only remedy would be to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. 👋You may have noticed our website is now www.huffpost.com. Don't worry, it'll still be the same HuffPost you know and love, just with a new URL. Make sure to update your bookmarks! HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media Group. On May 25, 2018 we introduced a new Privacy Policy which will explain how your data is used and shared. Learn More.The internet's best stories, and interviews with the people who tell them. Like what you see? Forward it to a friend. Or sign up! Can't get enough? Check out our Morning Email. ©2019 HuffPost | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
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