During the 2016 election, almost 4,500 people cast a provisional ballot in Tarrant County, Texas ― the vast majority of which were ultimately rejected. But out of the thousands of people who tried to vote provisionally but were ineligible, only one person, a woman named Crystal Mason, was prosecuted for voting illegally. She was convicted in state court and sentenced to five years in prison.

Mason’s conviction drew headlines last year because it was so severe. Mason, who is Black, was on supervised release for a felony conviction and says she had no idea she couldn’t vote. Prosecutors say Mason is lying, and convicted her under the state’s illegal voting statute, which says it is a crime to vote or attempt to vote if you know you are ineligible. Their key piece of evidence is an affidavit Mason signed affirming she was an eligible voter. Mason is appealing her sentence and a hearing is set for Sept. 10 in Fort Worth.

New data obtained by HuffPost underscores how unusual Mason’s prosecution is. Provisional ballots are frequently rejected in Tarrant County, but Mason appears to have been singled out for criminal wrongdoing.

Mason’s lawyers argue her decision to submit a provisional ballot in 2016 did not amount to an actual “vote” because it was never counted. They also argue Mason has a protected right under federal law to cast a provisional ballot. The fact that thousands of people have voted provisionally in Tarrant County without facing criminal consequences could bolster that claim.

According to records obtained by HuffPost, 3,990 provisional ballots in Tarrant County in 2016 (some 89% of the total provisional ballots cast) went uncounted ― the vast majority because the person who cast the ballot was not registered to vote there. It’s not clear why these people weren’t registered. They could have been registered to vote in another place. Or they could have missed the state’s 30-day voter registration deadline. Or, like Mason, they could have had a previous voter registration canceled because of a felony conviction.

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The high number of rejected provisional ballots in 2016 appears to be part of a trend in Tarrant County. Since 2014, 12,668 provisional ballots were cast in Tarrant County. Of those ballots, 11,085 ― about 88% ― were rejected.