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Source: CBS Texas / Youtube
Crystal Mason, who was sentenced to five years in Texas for trying to vote with a ballot in 2016 that was rejected, was acquitted.
On Thursday (March 28), an appeals court in Texas threw out a five-year prison sentence given to Crystal Mason, who was sentenced for trying to vote in the 2016 presidential election using a provisional ballot in Fort Worth that was rejected. Mason maintained that she had no idea she was ineligible due to being on supervised release for a tax felony at the time. The case became nationally known and was regarded as an attempt to intimidate Black voters as they saw the sentence as egregious for what legal observers saw as a simple error.
“We conclude that the quantum of the evidence presented in this case is insufficient to support the conclusion that Mason actually realized that she voted knowing that she was ineligible to do so and, therefore, insufficient to support her conviction for illegal voting,” Justice Wade Birdwell wrote in the ruling. The 49-year-old Mason was initially convicted in 2018 after a trial lasting just hours. The highest court in the state reviewed the case in 2022 and told the lower appellate court to reconsider. Mason had remained out of jail on an appeal bond but wound up losing her job at a bank and spent months in federal prison for being arrested for a federal crime while on probation.
“I was thrown into this fight for voting rights and will keep swinging to ensure no other citizen has to face what I’ve faced and endured for the past seven years, a political ploy where minority voting rights are under attack,” Mason said in an interview Thursday night. “Although I’ve cried for seven years straight, seven nights a week … I’ve also prayed for seven years straight, seven nights a week. Prayed that I would remain a free black woman,” she said in a statement released later. “I am overjoyed to see my faith rewarded today.”
“Crystal and her family have suffered for over six years as the target of a vanity project by Texas political leaders,” said Alison Grinter Allen, a criminal defense attorney who represented Mason. “We’re happy that the court saw this for the perversion of justice that it is, but the harm that this political prosecution has done to shake Americans’ confidence in their own franchise is incalculable.”
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Super Tuesday results are in and as much of America knew to expect an inevitable President Joe Biden and Donald Trump showdown once things settle, there was a twist here and there. Although it won’t amount to much at the polls, Biden lost the American Samoa contest, a region that carries six delegates and its residents are not allowed to vote in the general election.
Super Tuesday was not packed full of the drama of days of the past as much of the primary races for the presidential race were known to be dominated by the incumbent Biden and Trump on the other side. Biden lost his first primary race of the year in American Samoa to Jason Palmer, a businessman and political newcomer. While the Biden campaign probably isn’t enthused by the news from a front-facing standpoint, it shouldn’t put much of a dent in Biden’s momentum.
What was interesting is the uncommitted protest vote in Michigan, launched due to the White House’s support of Israel during its clash with Hamas. Other states that had either an “uncommitted” line, no preference, or write-in portion were Alabama, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont. Despite this, Biden looks poised to secure the Democratic Party nomination with several wins with little resistance under his belt. Biden also won Iowa, which has been a tough state for him to carry.
Trump, hasn’t hardly broken a sweat against his Republican Party primary opponents and already has 995 delegates of this writing, needing 1,215 delegates in all to earn the nomination. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley appeared to have momentum on the campaign trail and was seen as being miles above the other candidates but Trump’s power at the polls remains strong as ever. Haley is now leaving the campaign trail considering the numbers.
Biden has 1,497 delegates and needs 1,968 to earn the Democratic Party’s nomination. There isn’t a roadmap that suggests that Biden won’t win despite the surging “uncommitted” protest vote movement that could have some effect on the vote in November.
The primaries also set the stage for U.S. Senate races in Texas, with Colin Allred set to take on incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, who saw little threat to his seat from inside his party. In California, Rep. Adam Schiff is leading the Democratic Party primary so far with his Republic Party opponent Steve Garvey leading on his side. Rep. Barbara Lee also entered the U.S. Senate primary race but is trailing last in her party’s race as results continue to come in.
There are 10 California U.S. House of Representatives contests that will get a lot of attention this fall, along with five North Carolina seats, and six Texas seats. Alabama has two seats, including one district that could flip Democrat in November. The House is a critical series of races for Democrats, who hope to wrestle control of the chamber away from Republicans.
As more results come forth, we will update this post.
[h/t Associated Press]
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We’re still more than a year out from the 2024 U.S. presidential election, but one particularly unlikely name seems to have The View co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin’s vote. During a heated Wednesday morning (Sept. 20) roundtable discussion about the imminent government shutdown, Griffin controversially claimed that Taylor Swift is doing more for the economy than […]
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Rudy Giuliani made strong accusations against a pair of Georgia election workers connected to the state swinging in favor of President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election against former president Donald Trump. In a court filing earlier this week, Rudy Giuliani conceded to making false statements against the workers that he accused of tampering with ballots.
Rudy Giuliani, 79, stated his admission in a court filing this past Tuesday (July 25) in connection to a defamation lawsuit brought by the two Georgia election workers that the former New York mayor accused of fixing the ballots in favor of President Biden. Back in 2021, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss filed a defamation lawsuit in Washington, D.C.
In the statement filed by Giuliani, he is no longer contesting the statements he made against Freeman and Moss, which could essentially be seen as an admission that he falsified the claims. Politico adds in its reporting that this isn’t a signal Giuliani is allowing the lawsuit to move ahead unchallenged but instead moves the case to the legal arguments stage in order to determine if he will be held responsible for the damages requested in the lawsuit from the mother and daughter.
“Mayor Rudy Giuliani did not acknowledge that the statements were false but did not contest it in order to move on to the portion of the case that will permit a motion to dismiss,” aide Ted Goodman said. “This is a legal issue, not a factual issue. Those out to smear the mayor are ignoring the fact that this stipulation is designed to get to the legal issues of the case.”
While Giuliani’s side maintains that his statement falls just short of an admission of making the charges against the workers, the legal team for Freeman and Moss are seeing this as a favorable outcome for their clients.
“Giuliani’s stipulation concedes what we have always known to be true — Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss honorably performed their civic duties in the 2020 presidential election in full compliance with the law, and the allegations of election fraud he and former-President Trump made against them have been false since day one,” Michael J. Gottlieb, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, offered in a statement. “While certain issues, including damages, remain to be decided by the court, our clients are pleased with this major milestone in their fight for justice, and look forward to presenting what remains of this case at trial.”
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President Joe Biden traveled to Selma, Ala. over the weekend for the 58th anniversary of the deadly “Bloody Sunday” incident and declared the fight that began nearly six decades ago is still ongoing. In a speech, President Biden said that the right to vote is still under attack in the United States with the Voting Rights Act facing changes under the conservative-majority Supreme Court.
As the Associated Press and New York Times reports, President Joe Biden spoke to gatherers seated near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the “Bloody Sunday” event where peaceful demonstrators were assaulted on March 7, 1965, for simply crossing the bridge heading into Montgomery, Ala. Among those harmed that fateful day was the late congressman John Lewis before his vaunted political career took off.
A bill, The John Lewis Voting Rights Act, failed in Congress when the Democratic Party held a slim majority. With the House now controlled by the Republican Party, the bill has little chance of seeing the light of day as a full-on law.
“As I come here in commemoration, not for show, Selma is a reckoning,” Biden said. “The right to vote, the right to vote, to have your vote counted, is the threshold of democracy and liberty. With it, anything’s possible. Without it, without that right, nothing is possible.”
The disturbing images of the Bloody Sunday event still shock the senses as police and townsfolk unleashed violent rage on the marchers simply angling for a right to the democratic process and having their voices count among their fellow countrymen.
President Joe Biden also spoke widely about the state of the economy and also spoke directly to the concerns of local residents still recovering from the destruction of storms that erupted in the area on January 12.
President Biden’s full speech can be read here.
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Midterm elections are just around the corner, and #iVoted Festival is returning for its election night webcast featuring the top trending artists in key states whose electoral margins are often decided by the size of a venue.
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The event comes just two years after the 2020 iteration of the webcast was the largest digital concert in history.
The #iVoted Early Sweepstakes is also currently live here, in which fans can win tickets to Lizzo, Rina Sawayama, The Who, Demi Lovato, Kevin Hart, Soccer Mommy, Zac Brown Band, Dave Matthews Band, Carrie Underwood, Marc Anthony, Orville Peck, Smokey Robinson, Steve Lacy, Karol G, Omar Apollo, Ozuna, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jessie Reyez, The 1975, King Princess, Keith Urban, Noah Cyrus and many more.
See below for everything you need to know about the non-partisan 2022 #iVoted Festival.
When Is #iVoted Festival?
#iVotedFestival begins at 4 p.m. ET on Election Day (Nov. 8), and runs for six hours until 10 p.m. ET. The event will re-broadcast for 24 hours following Election Day to accommodate any fans voting last minute or stuck in line.
How to Watch #iVoted Festival
All you have to do to gain access to the #iVoted Festival is by snapping a selfie from outside your nearest polling place, or at home with a blank and unmarked ballot. Underage? U.S. residents older than 14 years old can enter by sharing what election they’ll be 18 for and why they’re excited to vote. Ineligible voters and non U.S. residents can enter by sharing which artist they’re most excited to check out.
RSVP for access to the festival here.
Who Will Be at #iVoted Festival?
#iVoted Festival’s election night webcast features “A Conversation with W. Kamau Bell & Tom Morello,” plus appearances by Billie Eilish, FINNEAS, Steph Curry, Eugene Mirman, Seth Godin, VINCINT, Taylor Bennett, Piper Perabo, Beauty School Dropout and Olympic skateboarder Heimana Reynolds.
Who Will Be Performing at #iVoted Festival?
Run the Jewels, CNCO, Rise Against, OK Go, Lake Street Dive, Los Lobos, The Revivalists, Shakey Graves, Carl Craig, Em Beihold, The Black Angels, The Range, Bully, Umphrey’s McGee, DeVotchKa, 3OH!3, Black Stone Cherry, El Trono De Mexico, La Bouche, Richard Marx, The Starting Line, Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup, Twiztid and The Suffers MILCK x Autumn Rowe, Filter, Local H, Post Animal, Dead Sara and more are all set to take the stage, with more than 400 artists confirmed for the #iVotedFestival.
The full lineup, set times and stages are available here.
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