Coosaw’s Marie Smalls kept her cool as elections chief. ‘It’s been a wonderful ride’
When she was a junior in high school, Marie Smalls, at 16, began a two-year career as a school bus driver in which she ferried elementary school children from Lady’s Island to schools across the area.
It was her first important job for Beaufort County, but it would not be her last.
On Aug. 1, Smalls retired as the director of the Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, the top elections post in the county which she headed for 12 years. Her departure ended a 43-year career with the county -- or nearly 50 when the stint driving a bus full of school children is included.
Tough era to be the elections boss
For more than a decade, when scrutiny over elections has been at its highest point in decades, Smalls headed the county’s office ensuring free and fair voting for all. Her department has coordinated and operated voting and tallying operations across the county at a time of tremendous population growth and increasing polarization among the parties.
She will be remembered for her hard work, integrity and calm demeanor in times that have tested the resolve of many in similar roles around the state, region and nation. She’s rarely rattled by late changes and is always open to explaining to anyone who asks what the election process is and how it works.
If there is anyone in county government who exemplifies government transparency in an open, honest and direct fashion, her team will point to her.
During a recent ceremony in her honor before a Beaufort County Council meeting, a small army of family, friends and election staff stood and cheered for the long-time face of county elections.
Audible expressions of surpise came from some in the room who were unaware of her retirement.
“It was a wonderful ride,” Smalls said. “I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Poll workers are the best
Smalls was appointed the interim director of Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections in June 2013 after Beaufort City Manager Scott Marshall, then the county’s elections head, was appointed director of the county’s Parks and Leisure Services Department.
Smalls, who had been deputy director since 2005, got the top job permanently four months later.
During an interview Friday, she credited others for much of the election work that goes on behind the scenes.
“I tell you, in my 20 years in the election business, Beaufort County poll workers are the best in the country,” she said. “They make me look good in the long run.”
She also gave a shout out to her elections staff, which grew from 5 to 11 during her tenure.
Husband is biggest fan
In retirement, Smalls, 69, is looking forward to spending time with her four children, 12 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
“I will continue to serve my church and my community,” she says.
Isiah Smalls, her husband, is the pastor at Friendship Baptist Church on Coosaw Island, where Marie Smalls was born and raised and still lives. Isiah Smalls retired as the head of the city of Beaufort Public Works Department in 2015.
Her husband, says Smalls, is her biggest fan and supporter.
Respect begets respect
Smalls was known for keeping her cool during elections, when emotions can run hot, particularly in recent years when vote processing, monitoring and results seemed to reach a fever pitch across the nation.
One example came in the 2022 primary election, when the names of some candidates were omitted from a smattering of precincts, prompting a backlash of protest from the affected candidates. The mistake followed redistricting.
Smalls fixed the problem and apologized.
“I never heard once where she was unprofessional,” Councilman York Glover said.
Smalls credits her personality and her faith for staying level-headed when situations became heated. And, she adds, if you respect people, it usually is returned.
“I try to meet people where they are and I respect them for their beliefs,” she said.
Tenure coincided with growth
Her office was responsible for running the elections for the county and the municipalities of Hilton Head, Beaufort, Port Royal and portions of Yemasee and Hardeeville.
Smalls’ tenure coincided with tremendous population growth, with the number of precincts almost doubling from around 70 to the 134 in place today, said Matt Sweeney, chairman of the Board of Voter Registration and Elections. Her legacy, he added, is hard work and election integrity.
In 2024, the South Carolina Association of Registration and Election Officials awarded Smalls with its highest honor, the Moore Award, for her years of service and dedication to election integrity and the implementation of upgraded electronic voting programs.
Smalls did not flinch in the face of the rapid growth, which included a rise in voter registration from 66,000 to 140,000.
“A lot of people would think it would be difficult,” she said. “You adjust with the times.”
Family is the focus now
Smalls, who attended Beaufort High School, got a degree in business administration from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. Her first job was with the Beaufort-Jasper Economic Opportunity Commission, whose mission is reducing poverty in Beaufort and Jasper counties.
She joined Beaufort County in 1982, working in Employee Services, which is now Human Resources. She rose through the ranks and became director of human resources. She retired in September of 2004 but rejoined the county with the elections office in 2005, again rising to the position of director.
All told, Smalls spent 43 years working for Beaufort County but it was actually more like 50 when her days driving a school bus are added in, Sweeney noted.
“I just want to be near my children and my grand children,” Smalls says of her plans for retirement.
Hannah Nichols, a spokeswoman for Beaufort County, said the Elections Board is expected to decide soon on the new director of elections.
This story was originally published September 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM.
