ST. CHARLES COUNTY - More than two-thirds of St. Charles County voters support a smoking ban in indoor public places, according to a survey released Tuesday by the American Cancer Society.

The random telephone poll of 400 registered voters turned up 68 percent supporting the measure, 28 percent opposed and 4 percent undecided.

The cancer society is part of a coalition of anti-smoking groups  supporting an effort to put a smoking ban before voters at a countywide election next April. 

The poll results will be used to try to convince the County Council to approve a bill scheduling the election. If passed by voters, the ban would apply countywide - in municipalities and unincorporated areas.  Lake Saint Louis already has its own ban set to go into effect Oct. 1.

"The voters want protection from the dangers of second-hand smoke," Stacy Reliford, a cancer society official, said at a news conference at the SSM St. Joseph Medical Park complex in St. Peters.

The survey was conducted July 20-22 by Fako and Associates of suburban Chicago. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.85 percentage points.

The survey showed 58 percent of respondents strongly supported an indoor smoking ban and 10 percent somewhat supported the idea for a total of 68 percent.

Meanwhile, 20 percent strongly opposed a ban and 8 percent were somewhat opposed - for a total of 28 percent.

Most respondents - 71 percent - said they would patronize restaurants following enactment of a smoking ban about the same as they do now.

Twenty-two percent said they would eat out more often and 6 percent less often.

The survey was paid for by the cancer society and a separate nonprofit group called the Americans for Nonsmokers Rights Foundation.

A leading opponent of smoking bans across the St. Louis area, Bill Hannegan, reacted by pointing out in an e-mail that a nationwide USA Today/Gallup Poll released last month showed only 31 percent favored a ban on smoking in bars.

The St. Charles County survey didn't ask separate questions on smoking bans in different types of venues but did mention bars in the general question it posed.

The county survey asked respondents if they supported or opposed an ordinance barring smoking "in all indoor public places, including workplaces, public buildings, bars, restaurants and casinos" in St. Charles County.

The national USA Today/Gallup survey, conducted by telephone July 8-11, asked 1,020 adults to choose between banning smoking, creating set-aside areas for smoking and having no restrictions on smoking in four types of public places.

The survey showed 59 percent nationally support a total ban on smoking in restaurants, 36 percent prefer set-aside areas for smoking and 4 percent want no restrictions.

That survey showed 31 percent support a total ban on smoking in bars, 43 percent want set-aside areas in bars and 23 percent want no restrictions.

Set-aside areas for smoking for hotels and motels and for workplaces also got more support from respondents than total smoking bans in such places.