HONOLULU -- A Circuit Court judge on Thursday morning ordered the city to put the issue of whether Honolulu should have a rail transit system on the November ballot.

This year the city approved a $3.7 billion mass transit system

The group Stop Rail Now sued after City Clerk Denise DeCosta did not accept a petition with 49,000 signatures that would have put the rail transit issue up for a vote in this year's general election.

The petition asked for a special election, DeCosta said. Rail opponents said the City Charter allows the clerk to combine a special election with a general election.

"The voice of the people should not be suffocated by erroneous rulings of the law by its own government," Judge Karl Sakamoto said. "The city clerk shall immediately cease any continuing refusal to accept the petition."

A city attorney said refusing the petition was never about politics, but instead an interpretation of the law.

"We never, never intended to deny the people a voice," Deputy Corporation Counsel Don Kitaoka said.

Stop Rail Now attorney Earle Partington said he believes the city will give up fighting the transit issue going before the voters.

"We're delighted with the ruling by the court," Stop Rail Now leader Dennis Callan said.

The group has said it is not opposed to mass transit. Leaders for Stop Rail Now have said they feel there are better solutions than a rail system.

"Our job now is to educate the public into the alternatives, which we feel are far superior," Callan said.

Meanwhile, the City Council will vote Wednesday on a charter amendment that would also put the rail issue on November's ballot.