The NC Representative who Fought Against the 2020 Election Results
North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn at the “stop the steal” pro-Trump rally on January 6th. Source.
“The amount of fraud we should tolerate in our elections is zero.” This is the parting message with which North Carolina Representative Madison Cawthorn left his supporters in a recent video Cawthorn released explaining why he would vote against certifying the 2020 election results. In this video, Cawthorn stated that Article III, section 1, clause 2 of the Constitution states that legislators are the only ones responsible for determining presidential electors. Using this section of the constitution, Cawthorn reasoned that this means if state laws regarding elections were broken, the legality of our election is called into question. He went on to state that Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, and Wisconsin were states in which the election laws had been broken or ignored. He ended his video by laying out his argument in a simple equation: violations of state laws + late night ballot drops + corrupted election technology + dead voters + mathematically impossible vote irregularities = calling the sanctity of our election results into question.
Although Cawthorn’s video has gone viral, with President Trump retweeting it when his account was active, many of the claims Cawthorn made have been widely and soundly debunked. Additionally, the Trump campaign attempted to make many of the same arguments in court; however, the vast majority of these cases were withdrawn or thrown out. While Cawthorn never produced the sources he was using to back up his argument, he did invite everyone to fact check him and several news agencies have. Thus far, State officials, the courts, news outlets, and even former Attorney General William Barr’s official report have all dismissed former President Trump and Representative Cawthorn’s false claims of voter fraud. Cawthorn has been fact checked in relation to his claims that voting continued after the election had closed, poll watchers were banned from voting locations and tabulation rooms, and there was little to no signature verification. Additionally, there has been information to show that Cawthorn’s claims regarding dead voters and mathematically impossible irregularities in the vote counts are also false.
Although it has been widely accepted that the election results were secure and valid, Cawthorn’s counterclaim was just the beginning of a torrent of backlash he received following his decision to contest the election results on account of baseless claims and the siege on the Capitol on January 6th, 2020. Hours before protestors violently stormed the Capitol building, Cawthorn gave a speech at President Trump’s “Save America” rally in which he encouraged the masses to march down to the Capitol to make their voices heard. Since this occurrence, Cawthorn has been accused, alongside President Trump, of inciting the violence that occurred. Not only have local constituents been protesting outside of his office in Hendersonville, a change.org petition calling for his removal has gained 33,500 signatures. Additionally, Democratic leaders from North Carolina wrote a formal letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi encouraging her to expel Cawthorn from the House.
As was seen later in the evening of January 6th, Cawthorn’s objection to the election results did not prevent them from being certified. However, the false and baseless claims he and other prominent Republicans made have shaken the United State’s electoral system and the public’s trust in it. Going forward, it will take a significant amount of time and effort to restore faith and trust in the electoral system. As for Representative Cawthorn, it is evident that his statements and actions are continuing to follow him in the very early days of his political career. Whether the calls for Cawthorn to resign win out or not, his representation of North Carolina will be remembered in North Carolina, Congress, and the nation as a whole for years to come.