The League of Women Voters was alone in recommending freeholders be elected countywide. Others, including Republican and Home Rule activists, argued they should be elected by commissioner district, and the commissioners agreed. The consensus was that it would be costly and difficult for individual freeholder candidates to run countywide campaigns, and it would be mind-numbing for voters to keep track of dozens of candidates and vote for 21. The charter issue will be on the November ballot because of a successful petition drive last year by the Home Rule Committee, a political action committee. But exact procedure for electing freeholders is up to the commissioners.
Freeholders are an integral part of the charter or home rule process.
Once freeholders have written a charter, the document is submitted to voters for approval.