South Carolina Nation’s Worst at Requiring Recorded Votes

A Policy Council study of the Constitutional and legislative procedural rules in all 50 states finds that South Carolina is one of just five states that do not require lawmakers to record their votes when passing bills. South Carolina has the nation’s most burdensome requirement for requesting a recorded vote among the five states that do not require them.

Constitutions in 36 states require lawmakers to hold a recorded vote on bills they consider. Among the 14 states without any constitutional requirement, joint House and Senate rules in three states mandate recorded votes on final passage. In three states, House rules mandate recorded votes, and Senate rules mandate them in three other states, for a total of 45 states with a constitutional or procedural requirement that votes be recorded before a bill may become law.

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