In Texas, criminal charges and felony convictions do not automatically deprive people of their right to vote

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After Crystal Mason voted in the 2016 presidential election in Tarrant County while on supervised release for tax fraud, she became a national figure in an ongoing conflict between voting rights advocates and officials who took a hard line against illegal voting.

Mason was sentenced to five years in prison for illegally casting a provisional ballot in that election, even though she said she did not realize she was ineligible to vote because of her criminal status. A legal battle is underway over her conviction. But experts say the high-profile political firestorm surrounding her case also continues to deter eligible voters in Texas who have been arrested, convicted of felonies or have served their felony sentences from voting — even though they are legally allowed to participate in elections. “People think they lose their right to vote simply because they’ve been arrested,” said Bob Libal, a criminal justice advocate in Texas who has worked nationally to restore voting rights to people with convictions.

Texas law prohibits convicted felons who are still serving their sentences, including any period of parole, community supervision and probation, from voting. But Texans are still allowed to vote if they have been convicted of a crime (even if they are currently serving a sentence) or are in jail awaiting trial on a criminal offense. And, under a little-known election law, Texas criminals are actively appealing their convictions can vote legallyeven though they are in prison.

In this election cycle, there is perhaps no more high-profile example of someone retaining the right to vote after being accused or convicted of a crime than the Republican presidential candidate. Former President Donald Trump will still be able to vote in Florida even though he has been convicted in New York of 34 state crimes, making him the first convicted felon to run for president.

That’s because Florida, where Trump resides, follows the laws of the state where the conviction occurred, and New York law only prevents people convicted of felonies from voting while in prison. Trump’s sentencing has been postponed until after the election.

In Texas, about 55,000 people are held in jails awaiting trial and eligibility to vote, according to data from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. That doesn’t mean it’s easy for them to vote.

Only Dallas and Harris counties have Election Day polling places open to people in jail. And while incarcerated people can request early voting by mail under Texas law, the request for a mail-in ballot must be submitted by Oct. 25. That deadline ensures that people arrested after that date and before Election Day no longer have the opportunity to cast their ballot. a mood.

Gaining access to a mail-in ballot while in jail is not easy. In some provinces, interest groups visit the prison to distribute the forms. In other provinces, people don’t even realize they can ask for the form. The State Department does not track how many people in jail request a ballot by mail.

“A lot of people have this narrative that once you have a criminal background, you can’t vote,” said Jasmine Ross, who works for the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. “That is true in some states, but here we are not doing permanent disenfranchisement.”

Harris County was the first in the state to establish a prison-based voting program in 2021. Election officials set up voting machines at the county jail, with the polling place open to the general public, a legal requirement. Jail staff transports inmates who choose to vote to the polling place during Election Day.

“I’m glad we were the first in Texas to do this,” said Phillip Bosquez, assistant chief of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. “And I absolutely think it can be replicated without a huge burden on the system.”

Texas lawmakers passed one last year account that would ban polling places in prisons, but the legislation never gained traction. The author of the bill, Rep. Valoree SwansonR-Spring did not respond to questions about why it carried the bill.

Colorado, meanwhile, this year became the first state to pass a law requiring counties to provide a polling place in jails. The new law also requires prisons to set up a place where mail-in ballots can be deposited.

Advocates say laws like Colorado’s will help incarcerated people transition back into their communities and reduce recidivism rates.

“It really gives people a sense of participation and involvement in their community,” Ross said. “The most consistent feedback is that it’s a way for them to think differently about how they can do better and how they can contribute to their community.”

Research found that individuals whose voting rights were restored after incarceration were less likely to be rearrested compared to those who were banned from voting.

Other states have also taken action to restore voting rights. In 2023, Minnesota and New Mexico restored voting rights to people on probation or parole. And in 2020, Washington DC passed a law allowing people incarcerated for a crime to vote.

But the varying rules in different places only add to the confusion that can keep people with criminal charges or convictions from voting, even if they are legally allowed to do so.

“One of the challenges is that there is an extremely confusing patchwork of laws across the country when it comes to voting rights for people with felonies,” Libal said.

A Texas appeals court will hear an appeal in March Mason’s conviction overturnedacquitting her of the misdemeanor charges and seemingly ending the eight-year saga. The court said there was no evidence that Mason knew she was not eligible to vote, a condition that must be met to convict someone of illegally voting in Texas.

The following month, however, Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells announced that he wanted Mason’s conviction reinstated. Sorrell’s office argued that Mason was fairly convicted, citing testimony from election workers who said Mason signed an affidavit requiring individuals to swear that “if I am a felon, I have completed all my sentence, including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or I have been pardoned.

“I want so-called illegal voters to know that we are watching,” Sorrell told County Commissioners at a May briefing on why he was raising the issue again.

The state and Mason’s attorneys have filed a brief with the Court of Criminal Appeals. Mason’s lawyers argue that the court should reaffirm the decision to acquit Mason, arguing that she had no idea she was not eligible to vote. A final decision in Mason’s case could take months, said Savannah Kumar, an attorney representing her.

“It’s important to keep in mind that the highest criminal court in Texas has already made it clear that innocent mistakes are not enough to get Texans thrown in jail,” Kumar said.

Correction, October 31, 2024 at 6:06 PM:

This story previously contained incorrect information about the identification Harris County Jail inmates can provide to vote at the jail. That information was provided by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. After the original release, a Harris County spokesperson said all voters, including inmates, must provide a form of identification as outlined in the Texas Election Code.