Ill. Supreme Court Puts Emanuel Back on Ballot

(CN) - The Illinois Supreme Court voted unanimously late Thursday to reinstate Rahm Emanuel on Chicago's mayoral ballot.

Justice Robert Thomas wrote the court's majority opinion on behalf of four other justices on the court. The other two justices released a separate, concurring opinion.

A state appeals court had ruled in a split-panel decision on Monday that Emanuel was not eligible to run in the February election because he is not a city resident. The ruling overturned a judgment by Cook County Circuit Court, and set aside the election board's decision to allow him on the ballot.

The challenge to Emanuel's candidacy stems from his move to Washington, D.C. to serve as chief of staff for President Barack Obama from January 2009 to October 2010.

When the state Supreme Court took up Emanuel's emergency appeal, it temporily ordered the elections board to put his name back on the ballot.

"This is a situation in which, not only did the candidate testify that his intent was not to abandon his Chicago residence, his acts fully support and confirm that intent," the majority opinion states.

"Given the record before us, it is simply not possible to find clearly erroneous the board's determination that the objectors failed to prove that the candidate had abandoned his Chicago residence," the ruling continues.

The minority opinion concurs with the ruling but states, "The result in this case is in no way as clear-cut as the majority makes it out to be."

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