South Carolina Constitution - Unusual Provisions

Unusual Provisions

• Article IV, Section 2 (Qualifications of Governor) states: "No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor who denies the existence of the Supreme Being." This provision has never been enforced in modern times, since current precedent holds that the First Amendment's Establishment Clause is binding on the states per the 14th Amendment's Due Process Clause.
• A constitutional amendment must be approved by two-thirds of each house of the legislature, approved by the people in an election, and then ratified by a majority of each house of the legislature. If the legislature fails to ratify, the amendment does not take effect, even though it has been approved by the people. See S.C. Const. art. XVI, s. 1.
• Article XVII, Section 3 of the Constitution prohibited divorce for any reason. On April 15, 1949, it was revised to permit divorce for certain reasons. It is believed that South Carolina is the only state in which the grounds for divorce are written into the constitution. The legislature is thus prohibited from creating additional grounds for divorce except by constitutional amendment.
• Due to extremely strict annexation laws passed by the General Assembly in 1976, incorporated municipalities in South Carolina are usually much smaller in area and population than those elsewhere in the fast-growing Southeast. However, when adjacent suburbs which would be annexed elsewhere are added in, they exhibit sizes and rates of growth similar to many municipalities in neighboring states, such as Georgia and North Carolina.
• A two-thirds majority vote of the House of Representatives is required to impeach the governor and other state officials, as opposed to the simple majority required by the U.S. Constitution and most other state constitutions.
• The adjutant general, head of South Carolina's National Guard, is an elected official. South Carolina is the only state where this is the case.