CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court on Friday elected to let voters decide in November whether they want to enact tough anti-smoking restrictions in bars, supermarkets and restaurants.

In a 6-1 decision made public Friday, the court upheld the smoking restrictions of ballot Question 5, called the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act.

In upholding the ballot initiative, however, the court rejected a provision added by Carson City District Judge Bill Maddox to include all motel and hotel rooms in the smoking ban, a restriction supporters of the proposal said they had not sought to include in the measure.

The court found that the challenge to the ballot initiative was premature. "Attacks based on the alleged unconstitutionality of the measure, if it were passed, are not appropriate for pre-election review," the court stated.

But Chief Justice Bob Rose said in separate comments that he was concerned by what he called misleading information about the effect of the measure on "stand-alone bars." Anyone who signed the petition would have to work to find out that a "stand-alone bar" is defined as an establishment not licensed to serve food, Rose said.

Despite backers' claims that bars would be exempt from the smoking ban, under the definition in the petition most stand-alone bars would be covered by the smoking prohibition, Rose said.

Rose, who largely agreed with the court majority, raised the only dissent to the decision. "The initiative espouses the noble purpose of protecting children from secondhand smoke," Rose said. "Unfortunately, this purpose is made far less regal by the misleading representations made in the initiative."

Question 5 now will face off against a competing measure, Question 4, dubbed the Responsibly Protect Nevadans from Second-Hand Smoke Act. Question 4 would maintain the status quo on smoking restrictions in Nevada.

The measure that receives the most votes becomes law as long as it secures a majority. Either of the measures, which seek to amend state law, would take effect if approved by voters in November.

Backers of the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act said they were pleased but not surprised by the court's decision.

"We certainly didn't expect to be thrown off the ballot. Their appeal was baseless and without merit,'' said Michael Hackett, a spokesman for the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act campaign.

Hackett also applauded the court's decision to exclude all motel and hotel rooms from the proposed smoking ban.

"That's fine with us," he said. "It is consistent with what our intentions were and are.''

Lee Haney, a spokeswoman for the Smoke Free Coalition, backers of Question 4, the less restrictive anti-smoking initiative, said the group was "obviously disappointed" with the decision.

But she did say the coalition was "encouraged" by Rose's comments about the misleading nature of the initiative. "He had some pretty strong language about that,'' she said.

Haney also said that despite the justices' ruling, the Smoke Free Coalition and other Question 4 backers maintain that if Question 5 passes, "it will ban smoking in hotel and motel rooms. You have to dig through the law to see that."

Haney said the issue could arise if Question 5 passes.

"The end result is that we believe our initiative is the more reasonable of the two initiatives,'' she said. "We have to take into consideration that we are a tourist-based economy.''

Question 4 would maintain the status quo by banning smoking on school grounds and in day care centers and video arcades. It would allow smoking in slot machine areas of grocery and convenience stores and in designated areas of bars and restaurants.

Both proposals qualified for the ballot during petition drives in 2004. But the Legislature last year refused to act on either petition, and under state law, they automatically were placed on the 2006 ballot. Both petitions had proposed bans on smoking on school grounds and at video arcades and day-care centers. The 2005 Legislature banned smoking in video arcades and day-care centers.

Question 5 is backed by the Nevada Tobacco Prevention Coalition, which is made up of the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and the Nevada State Medical Association.