CHICOPEE — A request to limit who can speak during the public input portion of City Council meetings was struck down Thursday because doing so would be illegal.

About halfway through a three-hour meeting, At-Large Councilman Tim Wagner expressed his belief that only Chicopee residents and people with ongoing business in the city, as well as others, were allowed to speak during the public contributions of council meetings.

During a council meeting in September, he explained in an interview Friday, “far-right people in West Springfield alleged voter fraud without providing any evidence to support their claims.”

The four speakers were West Springfield and Greenfield residents and volunteers for a national group called United Sovereign America, which claims to “ensure legally valid elections that are fair, accurate and reliable,” according to its website .

Wagner said the speakers also argued that Chicopee election officials, such as City Clerk Keith Rattell, failed to conduct fair and accurate elections while handling the 2022 statewide election.

“It felt like a slap in the face to our city officials who work hard during election season to get their jobs done,” Wagner said.

The request, according to Tim Riley, the board’s attorney, had to be dismissed by a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. case that decided elected officials cannot silence public commenters based on the “substance of their input” during the public comment portion of government meetings.

The state’s highest court made this decision about a year and a half ago.

At Thursday night’s meeting, Riley said that once the public input rules are in place, they cannot be changed.

Riley could not be reached for further comment Friday.