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*snip*

“History shows us that a popularly elected, but ineligible, chief executive in the executive branch of a government can be legally and constitutionally removed from office, e.g., Governor Thomas H. Moodie of North Dakota was a prime example.

After he was sworn in and serving as Governor, the North Dakota State Supreme Court ordered Governor Moodie removed from office, after it was determined that he was constitutionally and legally ineligible to serve in the office to which he was popularly elected.”

http://history.nd.gov/exhibits/governors/governors19.html

http://puzo1.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-ad-kerchner-v-obama-petition-for.html

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1935: North Dakota Governor Thomas H. Moodie

• After the election, it was alleged that Moodie did not meet the constitutional residency requirements for holding office.

• The attorney general brought a challenge to Moodie’s eligibility for office in the state Supreme Court.

• The House narrowly passed an impeachment resolution that did not mention specific charges and authorized a committee to formulate the charges. Reports indicated that the charge would be a misdemeanor in office—that he took office with knowledge that he was not qualified.

• The attorney general blocked a plan to elevate the lieutenant governor, ruling that impeachment was not complete until the House presented the Senate with articles of impeachment.

• Impeachment proceedings halted when the state Supreme Court took up the case. The court later removed Moodie as unqualified for office.

• On the last day of session, the House voted to expunge the impeachment resolution and all references to it from the journal (“The Gubernatorial Controversy in North Dakota,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 29, No. 3, p. 418 (June 1935)).

http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2008/04/impeachment-of.html