Abstract

Eighteen states within the United States allow citizens to petition for an amendment to be added to the state constitution.  Three only allow for Amendments, while the remainder allow for Amendments, Statutes, and overturning a Governor's Veto by citizen initiative.   This page covers the gap between the South Carolina and Federal constitutions, examples from other states, and examples of use from states where it has been in place.   At the bottom of this page a proposed amendment is included

A Citizens Initiative for the State of South Carolina

This note follows the tradition of identifying a gap in the rights of citizens and its impact on the liberty of citizens of the state of South Carolina.   Specifically, where provisions exist in the US Constitution and eighteen other state constitutions to allow for the citizens to act as a check against an out-of-control legislature and executive, no such provisions exist in the US Constitution.  All power for the origination of Amendments, Statutes, and Veto overrides are held by the Legislature of the State of South Carolina.

The end of the Civil War brought a new Constitution to South Carolina.  Throughout the former confederacy, new state constitutions were put into place with strong legislative models, minimizing the ability of former confederates to modify the government structures to oppress freed blacks.

In the mid-1890s, the out-of-power Democrats regained control of the SC Legislature.   One of their first acts was to rewrite the SC Constitution.  The 1895 Constitution retained the strong legislature model but added many abhorrent provisions designed to minimize the influence of black citizens in government, including poll taxes and literacy tests for voter registration.   This laid the groundwork for Jim Crow-era laws in South Carolina.  This revised constitution restricted the actions of local governments through the restriction of Home Rule - insisting that some activities either receive legislative approval or be restricted to the state legislature altogether.

While some of these provisions have been thankfully voided by the Supreme Court and sent to the ashbin of history, the power vested in the legislature of South Carolina has not been revised in over a century.  Our state is considered to have a strong legislature and a weak executive model.  Lacking appropriate checks and balances against legislative power, in 2012, South Carolina was ranked 45 out of 50 states for public corruption - with only five states having higher degrees of public corruption.

In 2022, seventeen newspapers throughout the state of South Carolina banded together to write about public corruption, using their combined investigative and publishing might to identify areas of corruption and bring them to the forefront for citizens to see and address.   Unfortunately, the strong legislature model has resulted in barriers to information attempts to use the state's power to suppress the publication of information.

A more significant system of checks and balances against public corruption and overreach of government power is called for than what is currently provided by the Constitution of the state of South Carolina.  Within the Federal Constitution, Article Five provides a remedy for an out-of-control government, a convention for passing amendments ignored by the legislature.

Overall, half of the states in the Union include some citizen initiatives to add an item to the ballot for affirmation by the electorate. The smallest number are veto reversal states (2), followed by amendment only (3). Five states allow for Veto reversal and expansion of state legal codes. Fifteen states have full access, allowing for Amendments, new statutory laws, or reversal of a governor's veto. South Carolina should join this largest group to become the sixteenth state to allow for all types of citizen initiatives.

States that provide for initiated constitutional amendments

The amount of signatures and the vote level required to pass in the general election varies by state and by type of initiative as noted in the table below [State Initiative Requirements]

The most common number of signatures across the provisions is based on the number of votes in the last election for governor in a given state.  Nebraska and North Dakota are standouts for requiring 10% of registered voters or 4% of the latest federal census.   The model amendment at the end of this document includes provisions for 10% of the signatures from the last election for governor of the state of South Carolina.

The current South Carolina Amendment process dictates a 2/3 vote by the legislature to approve an amendment for placement on the ballot.   Our model amendment incorporates this feature by dictating that 2/3 of the counties in South Carolina (31) must be represented in a signature petition.

This requirement for the participation of 2/3 of counties within the state of South Carolina prevents the most populous counties of Berkeley, Charleston, Greenville, and Richland from defining initiatives that favor only the metropolitan counties and voters but lack broad support across the entire state.  No single county can contribute more than 10% of the petitioner signatures.

Just how successful are these efforts within states?  The example of California follows for all citizen-initiated ballot initiatives since 1911

A full list of states with Citizens initiatives allowing for amendments follows.  Seven states that do not allow for Amendment access, only for purposes of overriding a Veto or a Statutes, are not included in this chart.  These states are Idaho , Maryland, Maine, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, & Wyoming.

Existing Process

ARTICLE XVI
AMENDMENT AND REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION

Section 1: Amendments

    Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in the Senate or House of Representatives. However, for the general election in 1990, revision of an entire article or the addition of a new article may be proposed as a single amendment with only one question being required to be submitted to the electors. The amendment may delete, revise, and transpose provisions from other articles of the Constitution provided the provisions are germane to the subject matter of the article being revised or being proposed. If it is agreed to by two-thirds of the members elected to each House, the amendment or amendments must be entered on the Journals respectively, with the yeas and nays taken on it and must be submitted to the qualified electors of the State at the next general election for Representatives. If a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly voting on the question vote in favor of the amendment or amendments and a majority of each branch of the next General Assembly, after the election and before another, ratify the amendment or amendments, by yeas and nays, they become part of the Constitution. The amendment or amendments must be read three times, on three several days, in each House. (1965 (54) 827; 1967 (55) 140; 1968 (55) 3190; 1969 (56) 47; 1972 (57) 3197; 1973 (58) 86; 1974 (58) 3007; 1975 (59) 24; 1976 (59) 2215; 1977 (60) 23; 1979 Act No. 5; 1985 Act No. 6; 1989 Act No. 11.)

Editor’s Note
For similar provisions in Constitution of 1868, see Const 1868, Art XV, Section 1.
 

SECTION 2: Two or more amendments

If two or more amendments shall be submitted at the same time, they shall be submitted in such manner that the electors shall vote for or against each of such amendments separately.

Editor’s Note:
For similar provisions in Constitution of 1868, see Const 1868, Art XV, Section 2.

SECTION 3: Constitutional Convention

Whenever two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of the General Assembly shall think it necessary to call a Convention to revise, amend or change this Constitution, they shall recommend to the electors to vote for or against a Convention at the next election for Representatives; and if a majority of all the electors voting at said election shall have voted for a Convention, the General Assembly shall, at its next session, provide by law for calling the same; and such Convention shall consist of a number of members equal to that of the most numerous branch of the General Assembly.

Editor’s Note
For similar provisions in Constitution of 1868, see Const 1868, Art XV, Section 3.

Proposed Amendment

SECTION 4. Citizen Initiative.

Initiatives require broad support across the state. Initiatives for an amendment to the Constitution of the State of South Carolina, the incorporation of a statute into the South Carolina code of Laws, or the override of a governor's veto shall be supported by petitioner signatures from no fewer than two-thirds of the counties of the State of South Carolina. No single county may submit greater than ten percent of petitioner signatures to support an initiative effort. When residents submit an initiative for an amendment, and registered voter signatures support this initiative in an amount equal to or greater than ten percent of the total number of votes for all candidates for governor at the last preceding general election, then such an initiative shall be submitted to the voters for consideration at the next general election.

The secretary of state shall have such proposed initiatives published for at least ninety days before the general election date in at least one newspaper in every state county, as may be prescribed by law. If a simple majority of the voters approve such proposed amendments or statutes, then passed initiatives shall be read as the first item of business at the opening of the next legislative session. Upon reading, the act shall be ratified and incorporated into the Constitution of the State of South Carolina or the South Carolina Code of Laws as appropriate. Where an initiative concerns the override of a Governors Veto, and a simple majority of voters affirms the override, then that override is in effect upon certification of the election results by the Secretary of State}.