It looks like Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) could very well be disqualified from the ballot for aiding the January 6th Capitol insurrection, because the North Carolina State Board of Elections just declared they have that power.

Cawthorn is up for re-election in 2022, but his involvement in the insurrection could prevent him from running again. Not only did Cawthorn help organize the January 6th events, but he also participated in the Trump rally that morning and incited the crowd to violence.

That could very well be enough to torpedo Cawthorn’s re-election because Article I Section V of the Constitution specifically states:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

And now the North Carolina State Board of Elections appears to agree that it has the power to keep Cawthorn off the ballot should the members agree that he fits the definition as written.

According to a legal filing by the board:

“In policing candidate qualifications pursuant to its constitutionally delegated election duties, however, the State does not run afoul of Article I, Section 5. The State does not judge the qualifications of the elected members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It polices candidate qualifications prior to the elections…. states have long enforced age and residency requirements, without question and with very few if any legal challenges. The State has the same authority to police which candidates should or should not be disqualified per Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

If Cawthorn is kept off the ballot, similar efforts could be made against other Republicans, including Donald Trump, making the North Carolina effort against Cawthorn something to watch closely. Frankly, every Republican who participated in the insurrection in any way should be forever barred from office and prosecuted.

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