Texas Democrat hailed a hero after he waited in line for hours to vote on Super Tuesday is JAILED on illegal voting charge 'because he was on probation for burglary when he cast his ballot'

Hervis Rogers, 62, was taken into custody in Houston on Friday on two counts of illegal voting, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years

A Texas Democrat who received widespread attention after standing in line for six hours to vote in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary has been jailed on  illegal voting charges  'because he was on probation for burglary when he cast his ballot'. 

Hervis Rogers, 62, was taken into custody in Houston on Friday on two counts of illegal voting, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. His bail was set at $100,000.

In March 2020, Rogers became an overnight face of Texas' battle over voting access when he emerged from a polling center in Houston around 1:30 a.m. 

He was among Super Tuesday voters who waited hours in line in mostly minority, Democratic neighborhoods. Lines in mostly white, Republican neighborhoods were shorter.

'The way it was set up, it was like it was set up for me to walk away,' Rogers told reporters in comments carried by multiple news outlets at the time. 

However, unbeknownst to the media a the time, Rogers was still on parole from a felony burglary conviction, making him ineligible to cast a ballot under Texas law.   

Hervis Rogers, the last voter standing (well, actually sitting because he carried a chair with him), has entered the voting room.

— Nicole Hensley 📰 (@nkhensley) March 4, 2020

Hervis Rogers, the last voter standing (well, actually sitting because he carried a chair with him), has entered the voting room.

People are pictured in long lines waiting to vote on Super Tuesday, March 3 2020,  at Texas Southern University in Houston. Rogers was among those who waited

The Lone Star State's law states that a felon can only vote one they have 'fully discharged the felony sentence, including any term of incarceration, parole, or supervision'.

According to court records, Rogers' parole began in 2004 and expired in June 2020 - three months after he cast his ballot. 

Andre Segura, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas who is representing Rogers, said his client did not know he was ineligible to vote. He drew comparisons to Crystal Mason, a Fort Worth woman who was sentenced to five years in prison for casting a provisional ballot while on probation in 2016, who also said she was unaware she could not.

'Mr. Rogers made headlines after waiting hours for what he thought was his civic duty, and was very proud of that,' Segura told The Associated Press. 

'We shouldn't be prosecuting people for innocent mistakes.'

In March 2020, Rogers became an overnight face of Texas' battle over voting access when he emerged from a polling center in Houston around 1:30am

Voters lined up for hours on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, at Texas Southern University in Houston to cast their vote in the Democratic presidential primary

The rare arrest on illegal voting allegations comes as Texas Republicans begin a second attempt at passing many of the same restrictive voting measures blocked by Democrats during a dramatic late-night walkout in May. 

Texas is the biggest state where Republicans have vowed to make voting changes since Donald Trump's repeated claims that voter fraud cost him the 2020 election.

Courts records show Rogers is being prosecuted by the office of Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has pledged to pursue election fraud cases.  

Elections officials in Houston blamed the long lines on the local Republican Party´s refusal to hold a joint primary with the Democrats. GOP leaders accused the county of trying to shift the blame, saying county officials who allocated both parties an equal number of voting machines disregarded warnings about turnout for the hotly contested Democratic presidential primary.

This weekend, Texas Republicans may begin advancing their revived election bills at the state Capitol. One provision would require courts to explain to defendants how a felony convictions impacts their right to vote, a change Democratic state Rep. John Bucy has pushed in the aftermath of Mason's sentence.

'Intent is vital,' Bucy told The Associated Press.

'We've got to really keep pushing back on these bills, because a lot of what they're trying to do could criminalize mistakes.'

A GoFundMe page for Rogers has now been set up to pay for his legal costs. More than $100,000 has already been raised.  

A GoFundMe page for Rogers has now been set up to pay for his legal costs. More than $100,000 has already been raised