Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel asked Illinois' highest court Tuesday to overturn a ruling that knocked him off the ballot for Chicago mayor, calling the decision "squarely inconsistent" with previous rulings about the state's election law.

Emanuel's lawyers filed the request a day after an appeals court booted him off the Feb. 22 ballot because he did not live in Chicago for a year before the election.

In the appeal, Emanuel's attorneys called Monday's decision "one of the most far-reaching election law rulings ever" issued in Illinois. They said the ruling imposes "a new, significant limitation" on ballot access.

There was no immediate word on whether the high court would hear the case, or when the justices would decide whether to accept it.

Time was running short because the Chicago Board of Elections said it needed to begin printing ballots Tuesday to be prepared for early voting, which starts Monday.

Officials said they would start printing the ballots without Emanuel's name among the choices.

Just hours after Monday's ruling, the campaign to replace retiring Mayor Richard M. Daley began to look like an actual race.

For months, three of the main candidates struggled for attention while Emanuel outpolled and outraised them, blanketed the airwaves with television ads and gained the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton, who came to town to campaign for Emanuel.