A petition to abolish home rule was struck down by the Municipal Officers Electoral Board Monday.

The board met Monday at 1:30 p.m. after DeKalb residents David Castle and Michael Larson filed an objection against the petition. Mac McIntyre petitioned to have the question “Shall the City of DeKalb continue to be a Home Rule City?” on the ballot for the April 7 consolidated election.

According to John Castle, the attorney representing David Castle, the law clearly states the amount of signatures needed to have such a statement placed on a ballot.

“The home rule referendum petition must be signed by 10 percent or more of the municipality’s registered voters,” John Castle said. “The petition for referendum which is the subject for this hearing only contains 782 signatures: less than one-third of the number of signatures required by the election code.”

John Castle said he knows the importance of this type of referendum and the impact it can have on a community.

“The 10 percent requirement is a high bar for home rule referendum pro or con to be placed on the ballot, and that’s as it should be,” John Castle said.

DeKalb County Clerk Sharon Holmes said as of the last day of registration for the general election on Oct. 30, 2008, there were 22,948 registered voters in all precincts for the city of DeKalb. Holmes said this number is public information, and McIntyre could have had access to it. According to this number, McIntyre would need 2,295 total signatures to get his petition on the ballot.

McIntyre said he was disappointed in the board’s ruling and wants to appeal the decision.

“We will also proceed to work with identifying candidates in the April 7 election where if they get elected, we will immediately place the home rule question on their agenda,” McIntyre said. “We’re going to ask and be ignored again for the city council to take action.”

City Clerk Donna Johnson said it is also too late for McIntyre to petition to the city council for the question to be on the ballot for the April election.