The Portland Auditor’s Office has forwarded 42,743 anti-fluoride signatures to the Multnomah County Elections Division for further review, rejecting only about 1,200 signatures or just under 3 percent of the submitted total.

That means Clean Water Portland, the group behind the effort to force a public vote on the Portland City Council’s decision Sept. 12 to fluoridate Portland’s drinking water, cleared another hurdle on its path to a May 20, 2014 referendum.

Clean Water Portland said it submitted 43,236 signatures on Oct. 11, a day before the 30-day deadline to challenge the City Council’s Sept. 12 ordinance,

The auditor’s office, however, said it received close to 44,000 signatures. It finished reviewing about 6,000 signature sheets on Oct. 25.

The referendum’s fate is now in the hands of the Multnomah County Elections Division, which will compare a sampling of signatures to its voter-registration database to make sure they’re valid.

It has until Nov. 10 to review the petition and to decide whether the fluoride question will go before Portland voters. The measure needs 19,858 valid signatures to qualify.

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