PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
Voters in Portland won't have to wait too long to decide whether to put fluoride in their water supply.
The Portland City Council voted 3-1 Thursday on a referendum to put the issue on the ballot for a special election in May 2013.
The council approved an ordinance in September to add fluoride to the city's water supply, citing the goal of fighting tooth decay.
The decision was quickly met with opposition. A group called Clean Water Portland set out to collect signatures to put the issue to a public vote.
They received enough signatures from registered voters to move forward, and the issue would have been decided by ballot in the next primary election in 2014.
The City Council's decision Thursday moved that up by a year. Commissioner Amanda Fritz voted against it, and Commissioner Dan Saltzman was absent.
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