Impeachment explained: No, it won't nullify an election or allow a third term

• Since he was impeached on Wednesday, President Donald Trump and his allies have floated several misleading and inaccurate claims about what it means for him.
• Trump said Democrats are trying to "nullify" the results of the 2016 election by impeaching him.
• Some of the president's loyalists took it a step further and claimed that because impeachment nullifies Trump's first term, he's eligible to run for two more terms.
• These theories are baseless and reflect a misunderstanding of the Constitution and rule of law.
• Scroll down to read why they don't hold merit.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Since President Donald Trump was impeached on Wednesday, he and his allies in Congress and the right-wing media have floated the idea that Democrats are trying to "nullify" the 2016 election.

"After three years of sinister witch hunts, hoaxes, scams, tonight the House Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans," Trump said during a rally on Wednesday as the House voted to impeach him. "With today's illegal, unconstitutional, and partisan impeachment, the do-nothing Democrats … are declaring their deep hatred and disdain for the American voter. This lawless, partisan impeachment is a political suicide march for the Democrat party."

Fact-checkers like Snopes also pointed out that some Trump defenders have said that if he is impeached by the House but not convicted in the Senate and removed from office, he's eligible to run for two more terms because the impeachment itself nullifies his first term in office.

Both these claims - that impeachment "nullifies" the 2016 election results and that Trump can run for two more terms because he was impeached - are false and inaccurate.

The first claim: Impeachment 'nullifies' an election

Put simply, it doesn't. Impeachment is a constitutionally mandated process and has no effect on the results of an election.

Here's what the Constitution says about impeachment:

• Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5: "The House of Representatives shall [choose] their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment."
• Article 1, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7: "The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present."
  • "Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law."
• Article 2, Section 2: The president "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment."
• Article 2, Section 4: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The second claim: Trump is eligible to run for two more terms because he was impeached

Trump's impeachment does not void his first term as president, and the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution sets two terms as the maximum any president can serve.

Trump is the third US president to be impeached and the first to be impeached in his first term. Former President Bill Clinton was impeached during his second term and acquitted by the Senate. He did not - and legally, could not - run for a third term just because he was impeached.

Snopes also "searched news reports from the time and found no serious reporters, historians, or politicians arguing that the Senate's failure to convict Clinton literally nullified the president's previous term and gave him the opportunity to run for office again."

Former President Richard Nixon resigned before he was formally impeached.

And former President Andrew Johnson was impeached in his first term and acquitted. He, too, did not and could not run for a third term.

That said, Trump could theoretically be impeached, removed from office, and still run for reelection and resume the presidency if he wins.

As Insider's Grace Panetta highlighted, while the Constitution lays out the process for removing a sitting president, it doesn't prevent a president or any other "civil officer" from running for or being elected to federal office again.

If lawmakers want to prevent an individual from being able to take office again, the Senate must pass a measure by a simple majority that would bar that person from holding public office in the future.

In Trump's case, both removal from office and such a measure by the Senate are highly unlikely because the chamber is controlled by the Republican Party, whose members have largely stood by the president even as public support for his impeachment and removal from office mounts.