Beaufort Co. adds day to vote this weekend. But it’s still absentee, not early, voting
Beaufort County residents will have an extra three hours this weekend to vote in-person absentee for the upcoming municipal elections and the special school bond referendum, according to the Board of Voter Registration and Elections website.
The Beaufort voting office, 15 John Galt Road, and the Bluffton office, 61B Ulmer Road, will be open 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 26, in addition to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The last day for in-person absentee voting is Nov. 4, the day before the election, and both offices will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Residents who live in Bluffton, Port Royal and Yemassee and have registered as absentee voters may cast their ballots in person for the municipal elections. Residents in Beaufort County, which includes a portion of Yemassee, may also vote in-person absentee in the school bond referendum.
What is in-person absentee?
South Carolina is one of only nine states without early voting options, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Instead, S.C. residents can vote absentee in-person if they complete an application saying they meet one of the qualifications for absentee voting.
The S.C. Election Commission’s website lists 16 qualifications to vote absentee. They include voters who are physically disabled, attending school outside of their county or are members of the armed forces.
To vote absentee in person, residents must visit the county voter registration office and complete an application before casting their ballot. Voters must have their ballots in by 5 p.m. the day before the election. Residents planning to vote by mail must find the application online or request it by mail, complete and return it to the county voter registration office “as soon as possible” or no later than 5 p.m. the Friday before a Tuesday election, receive their ballot in the mail and return it to the registration office by 7 p.m. the day of the election.
What’s at stake?
In the Bluffton municipal election, three candidates are vying for two open seats on town council. Newcomer Bridgette Frazier is challenging incumbents Harry Lutz and Dan Wood, while Mayor Lisa Sulka is running unopposed for her fourth term.
For the first time since 1995, Port Royal residents will have a new mayor. With longtime mayor Sam Murray not running for re-election, Port Royal voters will decide between Town Council member Mary Beth Gray-Heyward and resident Joe DeVito for the seat. Voters will also choose from three candidates for two open town council seats: incumbents Jerry Ashmore and Robert Landrum and attorney Kevin Phillips.
In Yemassee, a town that straddles Beaufort and Hampton counties, newcomers Robert Bobby Moore Jr. and Darrell A. Russell will challenge incumbents Peggy Bing-O’Banner and Afred Washington. Yemassee residents living in Beaufort County may cast their votes at the Beaufort voting office, 15 John Galt Road, and those living in Hampton County may vote in person absentee at the Hampton County Board of Voter Registration & Election, 201 Jackson Avenue West.
Beaufort County also has a special election Nov. 5 — a $345 million school bond referendum. If voters approve, the bonds will pay for school repairs, safety upgrades and new construction. The bond issue will appear in two parts on the ballot, and voters must pass Part One, a $291 million package, for Part Two, a $54 million package, to pass.
