On January 10, a group of North Carolina voters asked the State Board of Elections to rule that Congressman Madison Cawthorn is ineligible to hold congressional office. The voters charge that Cawthorn is ineligible under the Fourteenth Amendment, section 3, which says, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress…who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress…to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.”

Here is the legal filing. The specifics about Cawthorn, in relation to the events of January 6, 2021, start on page 14.

Law Professor Derek Muller here expresses the point that because Article One says Congress shall be the judge of its own elections, therefore states perhaps do not have authority to decide for themselves which candidates are eligible, and cannot use qualifications to keep them off the ballot.

This article says that Chad Mayes, independent California Assemblmember, may run for U.S. House this year. He won’t be running for re-election to the legislature.

On January 10, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Libertarian Party of Minnesota v Simon, 21-834. Minnesota law requires petitions for independent candidates, and petitions for the nominees of unqualified parties, to carry this wording: “I do not intend to vote at the primary election for the office for which this nomination petition is made.”

The U.S. District Court had upheld this wording, pointing out that the petitioner is free to tell the potential signer that nothing in the language presents the signer from changing his or her mind later, and therefore the statement on the petition is not a severe burden. The Eighth Circuit had issued a non-published short opinion, agreeing with the U.S. District Court. Here is a copy of the cert petition.