The effort by North Carolina voters to block Rep. Madison Cawthorn from running for reelection because he is an insurrectionist has failed.
The Conservative Political Action Conference will be held in Dallas, Texas, on July 09, 2021.
According to the court docket in the case, the judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the state elections board from trying to keep Cawthorn off the ballot.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections was asked to hold a hearing on whether to disqualify Cawthorn from running for office because of his support for the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Fourteenth Amendment states that no person can serve in Congress if they engage in insurrection or rebellion against the U.S.
The state elections board was sued by Cawthorn, asking the court to stop them from moving forward with the challenge to his candidacy.
The state board hadn't yet considered the bid to disqualify Cawthorn, and it paused hearing any challenges until North Carolina's new congressional maps are finalized.
The court has concluded that challenges to congressional candidates may not be heard by North Carolina elections officials.
Free Speech for People, the nonprofit organization behind the initial challenge to Cawthorn's candidacy, called Friday for the state board to appeal the ruling.
The judge hasn't yet released a written opinion explaining his ruling, but a central part of Cawthorn's legal argument claims that he was protected from being disqualified by a Reconstruction-era law. TheAmnesty Act Cawthorn cites was not meant to apply to the future, according to an Indiana University law professor.
Cawthorn was among the speakers at the January 6 rally that immediately preceded the Capitol attack and told the crowd they have some fight, though he has denied any involvement with the riot. He said in August that the Second Amendment was written so that we could fight against tyranny and that there would be bloodshed if elections continued. If it was successful, it could have led to more challenges against other far-right candidates, including a reelection bid by Trump in 2024.
There is a reason why Rep. Madison Cawthorn might be kept off the ballot.
The Cawthorn challenge raises the question of who is an insurrectionist. The New York Times.
What do Madison Cawthorn and Ex-Confederates have in common? (Slate)
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