A bill that would require all votes in the state Senate to be role call votes was discussed in the Senate Thursday. Currently many votes in both the House and Senate are taken as voice votes. Opponents say it would be a waste of valuable time in a legislative session which some lawmakers say is already the longest in the country.

Beaufort County Republican Senator Tom Davis brought the bill forth, but his collegues argued that the legislative year will soon enter its last month, with the budget and other legislation still to be debated, and it should not be held up. Davis withdrew his motion, allowing the bill to be discussed in a Senate subcommittee.

(Davis on roll call votes  MP3  1:14)
Davis on roll call bill

In the House, Lexington County Republican Nikki Haley, who is running for governor, pushed for role call voting. Advocates support the measure in the name of transparency, saying that every lawmaker’s voting record should be perfectly clear.

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