South Carolina Senate

The South Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the state of South Carolina. The Senate and the House of Representatives together form the South Carolina General Assembly. Before taking its present name of Senate, in the 1778 Constitution, the upper chamber in various forms was known by other names including His Majestys Council and the Legislative Council. Under the current Constitution of 1895, the composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article III. Although the Constitution designates that each of the forty-six counties of South Carolina is represented by one senator, the senate districts do not correspond with the county boundaries. Rather the districts are apportioned based on population because of the U.S. Supreme Courts 1964 ruling in Reynolds v. Sims, which declared that state legislative districts be roughly equal in population. The forty-six members of the Senate are elected simultaneously every four years. The Senate cond...