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New: Crystal Mason made national headlines last year when she was sentenced to 5 years in prison for trying to vote. In their first interviews, the 2 key witnesses gave different stories about what happened, raising serious questions about the case huffpost.com/entry/crystal-…
Mason's conviction had serious consequences for her and her family. She lost her job and is now worried she's going to lose her home to foreclosure. Nearly a dozen people live in her house. For most of the past year, her 20-year-old daughter has been running the household.
Mason says she had no idea she was ineligible to vote. During her trial, the probation office supervisor conceded they never told her. A judge believed there was evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Mason knew she couldn't vote.
The case hinges on this provisional affidavit, which states that people convicted of a felony can't vote. But even though Mason did sign it, she says she never read the warning on the bottom left big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/athena/files/2… 
One of the key witnesses, a pollworker who was 16 at the time, said in an interview he knew Mason was ineligible to vote. But he said he forgot when she walked in to try and vote. “I knew for a fact that she was just recently let out of prison and that she was a felon,” he said.
This is one of the most significant voting rights cases in the United States.
One more thing. There were other poll workers at Mason’s polling location who could offer key insight into the case. I tried to contact them, by phone, through letters, but didn’t have any luck.
Per public records, The other workers at Mason’s precinct on Election Day were named Elisa Balderas de Moreno, Maria Chazarreta, Dayna Purtee, Darlene Bowman and Stephanie Thompson. If you know any of these women in Tarrant County, please contact me at Samuel.levine@huffpost.com
