Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel met the standard for voting from Chicago--even though he rented his house out when he moved to Washington to serve as President Obama's chief of staff--but by doing so, forfeited his ability to qualify as a candidate for municipal office in Illinois, an Illinois Appellate panel ruled on Monday.

"We conclude that, under subsection 3.1-10-5(a) of the Municipal Code, a candidate must meet not only the Election Code's voter residency standard, but also
No. 1-11-0033 21 must have actually resided within the municipality for one year
prior to the election, a qualification that the candidate unquestionably does not satisfy," the panel concluded in the 2-1 ruling.

"Accordingly, we disagree with the Board's conclusion that he is eligible to run for the office of Mayor of the City of Chicago. We reverse the circuit court's judgment confirming the Board's decision, set aside the Board's decision, and, pursuant to
Supreme Court Rule 366(a)(5) (Ill. Sup. Ct. R. 366(a)(5) (eff. Feb. 1, 1994)), order that the candidate's name be excluded (or, if necessary, removed) from the ballot for the February 22, 2011, Chicago mayoral election."

The court sent out the opinion of the panel on Twitter. Read the entire decision and the dissent here.

Here is the link to the Illinois Appellate Court Twitter account