The court said the state did not have enough evidence to prove that Mason knew she was ineligible to vote when she cast a ballot in the 2016 election. She was facing a five-year prison sentence.
Max Faulkner/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesMax Faulkner/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
In a statement, the ACLU of Texas said this acquittal amounts to a"victory for Mason, a Black grandmother from Fort Worth, whose life was upended by the state's aggressive charges." Mason has maintained that she had no idea she couldn't vote because she technically hadn't finished her sentence. She has said that she thought she was eligible once she was released from prison. And because Mason wasn't on the voter rolls at the time, she voted using a provisional ballot — which eventually wasn't even counted.
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