Madison Cawthorn, a 26-year-old real estate investor who was elected to represent North Carolina's 11th Congressional District in 2020, is one of many Republican politicians who have reinforced Donald Trump's fantasy that Joe Biden stole the presidential election. Based on Cawthorn's embrace of the "Stop the Steal" movement, his opponents are trying to prevent him from seeking reelection this year, arguing that he is disqualified from serving in Congress because he "engaged in insurrection" against the U.S. Constitution by inciting the Capitol riot.
That far-fetched claim, which implies that many of Cawthorn's colleagues in Congress are likewise barred from federal office, is getting a serious hearing because North Carolina has a low threshold for seeking to stop allegedly disqualified candidates from appearing on the ballot. When a challenger provides evidence to support a "reasonable suspicion or belief" that a candidate "does not meet the constitutional…qualifications for the office," the candidate has the burden of showing "by a preponderance of the evidence" that he is in fact qualified. According to the voters who challenged Cawthorn's candidacy, that means he "must prove that he was not involved in the insurrection of January 6, 2021."
