RENDON, Texas If Crystal Masons mom doesnt cook for their big family on Sundays, Mason stops at a tiny doughnut store on the way to church in Dallas, just off the road, to get breakfast for everyone.

Sunday, a scorching day in early September that reached triple digits, was a doughnut day.

Mason ordered a dozen pigs-in-a-blanket, two dozen doughnut holes for her family of about 12 a combination of children, nephews, nieces and grandchildren she has raised. As she was getting ready to pay, she paused and decided to order a dozen more chocolate-flavored ones. Her boys are always hungry, she said, and would eat more.

Soon, Masons Sunday routine might disappear. Last year, she was convicted of illegally voting in the 2016 election and sentenced to five years in prison. On Tuesday, her lawyers will appear before three Republican judges on the Texas Court of Appeals, argue that she was wrongly convicted and ask for a new trial.

If the Texas Court of Appeals denies Masons request on Tuesday, she will appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the states highest criminal court.

Mason had no idea she couldnt vote three years ago. Texas prohibits convicted felons from voting while theyre serving their sentences, and in 2016, Mason was on supervised release for a felony. When a 16-year-old poll worker couldnt find her name on the rolls on Election Day, he offered her the chance to vote with a provisional ballot. Mason filled out an affidavit , submitted it, and ultimately, election officials rejected it because she was ineligible.

Even though her ballot didnt count, prosecutors brought charges against Mason and, after a bench trial that lasted just a few hours , successfully convinced a judge she had knowingly voted illegally. The severity of her sentence made national news.

Civil rights groups and other activists have held up Masons case as an egregious example of voter suppression. Mason obviously made a mistake, they say, and is being severely punished to intimidate minorities and people with a criminal record from voting.

Crystals case is an effort in voter suppression. This has nothing to do with whether or not she was eligible to vote, Kim Cole, one of Masons attorneys, said to the nearly all-Black congregation at Masons church on Sunday. They dont want folks who look like Crystal to show up at the polls.