A state appeals court in Fort Worth, Texas, acquitted Crystal Mason of an illegal voting conviction. Mason nearly served a five-year prison sentence for casting an ineligible vote in the course of the 2016 election.

Judge Wade Birdwell ruled in favor Mason, in accordance with NPR. He wrote that prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence that Mason knew she was ineligible to vote. Her case gained national attention for its links to voter disenfranchisement, particularly in the southern state.

At the request of members of the family, the grandmother went to exercise her right. Although she couldn’t be situated on the voter rolls, a volunteer helped her fill out a provisional ballot. Mason maintains that she was unaware that she was unable to vote while on supervised release from prison. The woman, once incarcerated for federal tax evasion, couldn’t legally vote because she had not technically accomplished her sentence.

Although the votes didn’t count, Mason was charged with voter fraud or faced with a return to prison. Regarding her successful appeal, the ACLU of Texas praised the choice. They called it “a victory for Mason, a black grandmother from Fort Worth whose life was turned upside down by the state’s aggressive prosecutions.”

Mason hopes to proceed advocating for voters’ rights even after her acquittal.

“I am so happy that my faith was rewarded today,” Mason said in an announcement. “I have been drawn into this fight for voting rights and I will continue to strive to ensure that no one else has to face what I have endured for over six years, a political stunt that attacks the voting rights of minorities.”

Mason’s attorney, Alison Griinter Allen, maintains that Mason’s conviction was an unnecessary crime from the start. She stated that Texas’ conservative leaders proceed to intimidate voters with cases like this.

“Crystal and her family have suffered for over six years at the hands of the vanity project of Texas political leaders,” Griinter Allen said. “We are happy that the court found this to be a perversion of justice, but the damage that this political prosecution has done to shake Americans’ confidence in their own election laws is incalculable.”

Especially because the 2024 election approaches, voting rights, including for ex-felons, remain an enormous issue for advocates across the country.