Fluoride proved too bitter a pill for Humboldt voters to swallow.

The mail-ballot vote on whether to fluoridate Humboldt water was resounding in the negative, with 422 people voting against the proposal and 274 for it.

Another 36 ballots were marked provisional, mainly because envelopes containing them weren’t signed. County Clerk Sherrie Riebel said she doubted more than two or three of the provisional ballots would be counted, but in any case there weren’t enough to change the outcome.

City councilmen voted to fluoridate the city’s water and then allowed the referendum when opposition arose.

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