The Illinois Supreme Court ordered Rahm Emanuel’s name back on the ballot for Chicago mayor.
A day after a state appellate court panel ordered that Emanuel’s name be removed from the ballot because he had not lived in the city for a year before the election, as stipulated by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, the state’s high court agreed to examine his appeal, based on already filed briefs, on an expedited basis.
The court ordered that any ballots printed in the interim include his name, according to reports.
Emanuel has spent the last two years living in Washington while serving as President Obama’s White House chief of staff.
The ballots are set to be printed in the next few days for the Feb. 22 election; early voting begins Jan. 31.
Emanuel, a former congressman who also had worked in the Clinton White House, argued that he was exempt under a “national service” exception. He noted also that he maintained ownership of his Chicago home.
Two lower bodies, the Board of Election Commissioners and a Cook County court, had ruled in his favor.
Emanuel, who has an Israeli father, is leading in the polls.
