COLUMBIA, S.C. - For a while Thursday, the Senate gave final approval to a bill that would ban recognition of gay marriages in South Carolina.

It turned out to be a procedural error, but it still took about 30 minutes for Senate Democrats to get Republicans to agree to reconsider the successful voice vote.

Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, had handed a note to the Senate's clerk's staff that would have held up the vote. But the note didn't reach the clerk before the bill was amended to include the gay marriage ban by Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg.

Ritchie apologized to Ford later. "It was not my intention to mislead the body in any way," Ritchie said.

"It was a mistake," Ford said.

Ford said that type of thing is one of the reasons it's important to pay attention in the waning hours of the legislative session, which ends next week.