How should “constitutional officers” be selected?
How should constitutional officers, like Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver, be chosen? That’s the topic of a study by the state LWV that we’ll be discussing at our Spring Meeting. Be a part of the discussion and preparation of our view to the state League for consideration.
Have you been following our state’s accounting-related drama? Last year, we made national news on NPR when our comptroller general bungled South Carolina’s cash position by $3.5 billion. Just last week, we made national news again in the New York Times after our state treasurer was questioned about $1.8 billion of mysterious state money – according to that NYT article, “no one seems to know its origin or what it was intended for.”
Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver is a constitutional officer, currently elected by voters.
According to our state constitution, South Carolina’s comptroller general and treasurer are directly elected by voters rather than some other method of selection, like gubernatorial appointment. Should they be?
Our opportunity to weigh in about it is coming up! As part of our April 23 meeting, we will be discussing and making decisions with respect to our state-level League study about methods of selection for our state’s “constitutional officers” (which include, in addition to comptroller general and treasurer, the superintendent of education, attorney general, secretary of state, commissioner of agriculture and adjutant general).
As you probably know, while the League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization, we can, and do, take positions on matters of policy. The way we determine what our policy positions are is by studying them and then discussing the ideas as a group. This is a great example of how we make our organizational decisions from the bottom up – as a grassroots-led initiative.
Our state-level study committee has researched the topic and created educational materials for local Leagues like ours to use. The core document is a “fact sheet” that aims to give us the information we need on the topic that will enable us to come to considered, evidence-based decisions about it. (And, for people who like diving into the weeds, there’s also an appendix with citations to the sources that support the facts.)
The more people we have at the meeting, the better our discussions and our decisions will be! So I hope that you will take this opportunity to play a role in the state League’s policy-making process. While you don’t have to register to attend, we’d love for you to complete the very brief registration by clicking the box below so that we have a sense of how many people to expect. Please join us!