Bartenders should no longer be required to make cocktails with minibottles, voters said by a substantial margin Tuesday.

The vote removes from the state constitution the rule that the 1.7-ounce bottles be used and throws to legislators the task of working out the changes.

With 1,809 of 2,063 precincts reporting, the yes vote was leading 59 percent to 41 percent in unofficial results.

The vote came despite an aggressive TV and radio ad campaign by opponents of the change, questioning whether the General Assembly should be trusted with writing new rules.

"We've felt all along that our customers have said they didn't like the little bottles," said Tom Sponseller, president of the S.C. Hospitality Association.

Opponents of the change, mainly liquor stores and liquor distributors, put on "a negative, confusing campaign," Sponseller said, but the public looked past that.

"I'm kind of excited now," he said. The association has been working for the change for 10 years.

Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce President Brad Dean was at Shamrock's bar watching election returns and celebrating the minibottle referendum.

"We're thrilled," Dean said. "We were worried going into it with all the opposing advertising."

Despite the ads, "the referendum won on its merits alone, and money didn't matter as much as safety," Dean said.

"In some respects, it's a victory for our delegation, because they really pushed it hard," he said.

Shamrock's owner, Mark Kelley, is a former state House member who fought for several years for a change in the law.

He said he expected this day would come, but he didn't think it would take so long.

Kelley said the margin of victory is significant.

"That's a good win," he said.

Horry and Georgetown County voters overwhelmingly supported the change.

In complete but unofficial results from Georgetown County, 12,960 voted in favor and 8,266 against. In incomplete results from Horry County, 33,150 were in favor and 21,634 were opposed.

The requirement was put in the constitution 30 years ago as a hedge against anti-drinking legislators who might want to take away a hard-won liquor-by-the-drink fight.

Before 1974, there were no legal cocktail sales in South Carolina.

Instead, diners could bring their own liquor in a practice known as brown-bagging. The restaurant would supply the mixers and in some cases mix the drinks for customers.

At the time, about 20 other states used minibottles; South Carolina is the only one now.