The ad's claim about Mason

Democrat James Talarico's campaign ad says Crystal Mason received a five-year prison sentence for illegal voting because of Ken Paxton's crackdown on voters of color.

Mason's ineligibility and conviction

Mason, a Black Texas resident, was convicted in March 2018 for casting a provisional ballot in 2016 while on supervised release after a 2011 felony tax fraud conviction, making her ineligible to vote.

Who actually prosecuted Mason

Mason was charged in February 2017 and prosecuted by the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, not by Paxton's attorney general's office, as the ad may suggest to viewers.

The sentencing and legal penalties

Republican State District Judge Ruben Gonzalez sentenced Mason to five years in prison. Illegally voting in Texas is a second-degree felony punishable by up to twenty years and a ten thousand dollar fine.

What the trial transcript shows

Local prosecutors asked for a stern sentence to send a message to illegal voters. The judge provided no explanation for the five-year sentence, and it is unclear how much Paxton's efforts influenced the ruling.

“to send a message to illegal voters”

How Mason ended up voting

In November 2016, poll worker Jarrod Streibich told Mason she could complete a provisional ballot when her name was not on the rolls.

Mason's conviction overturned

In March 2024, the Texas Second Court of Appeals overturned Mason's conviction, ruling there was evidence she did not knowingly cast an illegal vote. The Court of Criminal Appeals upheld that ruling in September.

Paxton's broader record on voter fraud

A 2021 ACLU analysis found that at least seventy-two percent of election fraud cases brought by Paxton's office between 2015 and 2021 targeted Black and Latino people, with forty-five percent targeting Black and Latino women.