s Carswell supports Vote Leave, which is also backed by six Conservative Cabinet rebels, but UKIP leader Nigel Farage has thrown his weight behind Leave.EU and its umbrella group offshoot Grassroots Out (GO).
Both are vying to be designated the official Brexit campaign group by the Electoral Commission.
Having the support of members from a variety of different political parties is one of the criteria on which they will be judged.
If UKIP were to somehow suspend Mr Carswell's membership, that would mean Vote Leave's elected support base would be mainly drawn from the Conservative party which could boost GO's chances.
In a statement, Vote Leave told Sky News: "We are very pleased to be working with Douglas Carswell and hundreds of UKIP councillors across the country.
"We will work with anybody who wants to campaign to leave the EU."
Suzanne Evans was sacked as UKIP's deputy chairwoman on Wednesday.
She too supports Vote Leave, but Mr Farage insists she was replaced because she is a candidate for the Greater London Assembly and cannot devote her energies to the referendum.
She told Sky News she would be "really quite horrified" if senior UKIP figures were trying to suspend Mr Carswell's membership.
She said: "Douglas is our only Member of Parliament. He's the only link we have to the legislature of this country in the House of Commons.
I'm completely bemused ... I'm not sure that he would take this lying down."
Mr Farage has denied he has contemplated trying to remove Mr Carswell.
He said: "I'm much too busy, I have got a national referendum campaign to fight, I've got elections all over the United Kingdom coming up on 5 May.
"That's what I am focused on and nothing else."
Any attempt to suspend the party whip from Mr Carswell would require a vote by the parliamentary party - of which he is the sole member.
To kick him out of UKIP would require a vote by its National Executive Committee, which meets on 7 March.
But a UKIP insider has insisted to Sky News that Mr Farage is so determined to steer the Brexit referendum campaign, he's prepared to contemplate jettisoning senior members of his party who continue to support the Conservative-backed campaign.
Lucy Thomas, deputy director of Britain Stronger in Europe, said: "Out campaigners can't tell us what out looks like.
"They're too busy fighting about who's going to be the main campaign, who's going to be in front of the cameras.
"When actually this is a very serious issue, it's about the future of this country and jobs and prices and so on."
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