(CN) - An Illinois assembly candidate is allowed to run as a Republican even though he voted in the Democratic primary last year, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled.
Longtime Republican voter Steven Rauschenberger voted in the Democratic primary in 2009, in which his sister was running for township trustee. He then ran for General Assembly in 2010 as a Republican.
Frederick J. Hossfield challenged Rauschenberger's candidacy on the grounds he was not a qualified voter due to his 2009 switch. A vote on the issue by the eight-member state board of election ended in a tie.
Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald ruled that Rauschenberger was eligible to run as a Republican because the 2009 election cycle had ended.
"Though retaining the requirement that a candidate must swear that he or she is a qualified primary voter of the party to which the nomination petition relates, the General Assembly deleted the definition of 'qualified primary elector.' In so doing, the General Assembly deleted the two-year no-switch rule," Fitzgerald wrote.
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