COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolinians could decide whether to eliminate elections for the education superintendent and secretary of state under a bill approved by the House on Tuesday.

The legislation would ask voters to amend the South Carolina Constitution and give the governor power to appoint a person to those positions. The measure, which needed a two-thirds vote, passed 90-30 after about two hours of debate.

Some members questioned whether the measure took power away from voters.

"Right now, there is direct accountability for the superintendent of education and secretary of state," said Rep. Joe Neal, D-Hopkins. "Any time the government becomes less accountable to the public, the less the government has to offer people."

Gov. Mark Sanford also wants the lieutenant governor jointly elected with governors and to give governors the power to appoint adjutant generals and commissioner of agriculture.

The original measure, whose main sponsor is House Speaker David Wilkins, included appointing the commissioner of agriculture, but that provision was dropped in an amendment during debate on the floor.

Farmers across the state pressed lawmakers to keep the commissioner of agriculture an elected position.

"That's how they want to express their voice," said Reggie Hall, a spokesman for the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, which has more than 130,000 members.

Democrats had the most vocal opposition to the bill, but were divided on the issue.

House Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-St. Matthews, said South Carolinians want to cast a ballot for their constitutional officers.

"I believe they are intelligent and know who they want to represent them," he said.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter wants the state's constitutional officers to be appointed, even unsuccessfully offering an amendment to appoint the adjutant general, but voted against the final bill because she said it was weakened by "political compromise and sausage-making."

"We ought to do it or leave it alone," the Orangeburg Democrat said.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison, a Republican co-sponsor of the bill, said he would have preferred voting separately on each office, but the political reality was members formed coalitions.

"We realized in order to get a two-thirds vote we needed to drop back and those were the two that gave us the best chance," Harrison said.

The bill needs a routine third reading before it moves to the Senate.

Secretary of State Mark Hammond, who is charged with granting licenses for businesses and trademark and regulating charities, said the bill would bury his office in bureaucracy.

"This is a very watered-down piece of legislation," the Republican said. "If they truly believe in government restructuring, the people of South Carolina should get to vote on everyone."

State Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum, a Democrat, said she could see both sides of the issue, but agreed voters should decide.

An election allows candidates to discuss the issues with the public, she said. "Basically, people get to know where you stand."

But she said it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a statewide campaign, which discourages "very good educators who would make great superintendents."

Cobb-Hunter agreed with that argument, pointing to Bowman dairy farmer Hugh Weathers, who was appointed to complete the remaining two years of former Agriculture Commissioner Charles Sharpe's term.

"If he had not been appointed, the state would have been deprived," she said.

Sharpe resigned earlier this month when he pleaded guilty to federal charges of extortion for taking money to protect a cockfighting ring from legal trouble.