It’s official – we have a new LWV policy position on constitutional officers! At our LWVSC convention in May, delegates approved changes to our policy position document (the Program & Action Agenda) based on the conclusions of the 2023-2025 LWVSC constitutional officers study.
Constitutional officers are executive officers required by a state’s constitution. In South Carolina, these include superintendent of education, secretary of state, attorney general, comptroller general, commissioner of agriculture and adjutant general. The state constitution also specifies the method of selection for each officer; currently, all but one are directly elected by voters. (The odd one out is the adjutant general, which is appointed by the governor.)
The question of how best to select a number of our constitutional officers has been regularly coming up in public discourse in recent years and continues to do so, especially with respect to the superintendent of education, treasurer and comptroller general. Also, even though the LWVSC had policy positions on this topic, the underlying basis had not been substantively revisited in many years.
At the 2023 convention, delegates approved revisiting this relevant topic through a formal “study” process. This is a defined League process involving thorough research of the study topic, getting input from our local Leagues, and then creating or revising a position based on that input. Any substantial addition or change to League policy positions requires a study: it’s how we make sure that our positions are thoughtfully reached and evidence-based.
Input from local Leagues sent a clear message that is reflected in the new position. Our members believe that officers whose duties are administrative or functional in nature (currently including the secretary of state, comptroller general and adjutant general) should be appointed by the governor, and officers who have substantial policy-making authority and/or that serve particular constituencies (currently including the offices of superintendent of education, attorney general, and commissioner of agriculture) should be directly elected by voters. There was also consensus that our state legislature should establish appropriate qualifications (like educational or experience-based accomplishments) for South Carolina’s constitutional officers.
This new position will form a strong, clear basis for League advocacy and action on this issue. Thanks to everyone involved in the process, including all participating Leagues; study committee members Ann Duell, Dahlia Handman, Jo Anne Hennigan, Heather Mirman, Erin Oeth, Ann Sinclair, Holley Ulbrich; and Christine Prado.
—Lawson Wetli, LWVSC State Program Director
