O'FALLON, Mo. - Smoking ban petitioners in O'Fallon got enough valid signatures to qualify their proposal for the April 5 election ballot, the St. Charles County Election Authority said Monday.

Rich Chrismer, the county's elections director, said his office verified that the Smoke-Free O'Fallon organization got signatures of 1,082 registered voters in the city. That's far more than the 791 needed.

Under the city charter, the City Council now has the option of allowing the public vote to go forward or to simply pass the petitioners' proposal into law without an election.

The council has set a public hearing on the smoking ban proposal for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 22 in the council chamber at City Hall.

The O'Fallon proposal is similar to a law that went into effect Oct. 1 in Lake Saint Louis, a much smaller city that was the first in St. Charles County to adopt a comprehensive smoking ban.

The O'Fallon proposal would ban smoking in most enclosed public places, including all bars and restaurants.

The St. Charles County Council had talked earlier this year about putting a countywide smoking ban on the April ballot but is now unlikely to do so.