Having represented the Secretary of State in the matter, I felt compelled to respond to Debra Tuomey’s case comment on Harris v. Moore. The comment indicates that, unless every aspect of the proposed changes to a county charter is clear to the average voter, the citizens of the jurisdiction should be prevented from voting on the matter at all. I believe that the appropriate emphasis is on allowing members of the electorate to decide the matter for themselves, unless the ballot summary is misleading in some significant manner.
What most disturbs me about the case comment is the assertion that the ballot summary failed to explain adequately the effect of the amendment, as required by Grose v. Firestone, and that the ballot summary did not make obvious to the average voter that the county manager would be replaced by a veto wielding, strong mayor.