Description: Fort Worth, Texas criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with illegally voting, a second-degree felonly.

In the 2004 general election, Appellant filled out an Affidavit of Provisional Voter form. The form included the following affirmation: the voter had not been finally convicted of a felony, or if a felon, had completed all punishment including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, or period of probation, or had been pardoned. The form served as an application for voter registration in Tarrant County from that point forward. Tarrant County accepted the form and registered Appellant as a voter. Appellant voted in the 2008 elections in Tarrant County.

In 2011, Appellant pled guilty to a felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States arising out of a phony tax preparation scheme. United States v. Mason-Hobbs, Nos. 4:13-CV-078-A, 4:11-CR-151-A-1, 2013 WL 1339195, at *1 (N.D. Tex. Apr. 3, 2013). The federal court sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment and three years of supervision after her release and ordered her to pay full restitution to the U.S. government ($4,206,805.49). Id. Her conviction became final by 2013. Id. In accordance with requirements of the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA)2, Tarrant County received a report which included Appellant’s felony conviction and sentence. In 2013, the Tarrant County Elections Administration (TCEA) mailed a Notice of Examination to Appellant’s listed home address. The notice stated that TCEA was examining her registration based on information about her felony conviction and informing her that if she did not reply within 30 days with adequate information to show her qualification to stay registered, her registration would be cancelled. SeeTex. Elec. Code Ann. § 16.033.When the 30-day deadline passed without response, TCEA mailed a notice to the same address stating that Appellant’s voter registration had been cancelled and that she 2 The prosecuting United States Attorney gave written notice of Mason’s conviction to the Texas Secretary of State, the “chief State election official” under Section 20507(g)(1) of the National Voting Rights Act (“NVRA”). 52 U.S.C.A. §§ 20507(g)(1), 20509 (West 2015); see Tex. Elec. Code Ann. § 31.001(a). In turn, the Texas Secretary of State provided the same information to the Tarrant County Election Administration, the “voter registration officials of the local jurisdiction” in which Mason resides. Id. § 20507(g)(5).

Mason was entitled to a hearing and appeal. When both notices were mailed, Appellant was in federal custody serving her sentence, and she testified at trial that she did not receive the notices. Neither notice was returned to TCEA, however. TCEA cancelled Mason’s registration.After finishing her prison term and while on supervised release, Appellant reported to her probation officer that she would resume living at the same address as before. At trial, a supervisor from the probation office testified that no one from that office told Appellant she was ineligible to vote while on supervised release. On November 8, 2016, Appellant went to her designated polling place for the general election. The election worker checking the registration roll could not find her name, so workers offered to let her complete a provisional ballot, which she agreed to do. She completed the affidavit, just as she had done in 2004, and electronically cast her provisional ballot. The election worker who had checked the registration roll reported a concern about Appellant’s provisional ballot to the election judge for Appellant’s precinct, who happened to be Mason’s neighbor. The election judge then reported the concern to the district attorney’s office. Appellant’s ballot was not counted in the election.Appellant was ultimately indicted for voting in an election in which she knew she was not eligible to vote. The indictment alleged that she had not been fully discharged from her sentence for the felony conviction. She waived a jury trial and proceeded to a bench trial. Her defensive theories at trial were that she did not read the admonishments.

Outcome: Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Reversed on March 29, 2024.
The appellate court ruled that the State did not have enough evidence to prove that Mason knew she was ineligible to vote when the cast a ballot in the 2016 election.

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