Thousands of Beaufort Co. voters have already cast their ballot. Here’s what we know

More than 15,500 Beaufort County residents have already voted in this year’s midterm election as of Saturday, according to local officials. That’s just more than 8 percent of the county’s entire population.

This year’s early voting numbers are already larger than the last midterm election numbers from 2014, said Marie S. Smalls, director of the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Beaufort County. Absentee voting seems to be up since 2014 throughout the entire state of South Carolina, with a 40 percent increase in the amount of absentee ballots issued.

So far, 13,468 Beaufort County residents have voted early in person and 2,074 have mailed in ballots, Smalls said Monday morning.

In the 2014 election 48,503 total ballots were cast and in 2016 the number spiked to 79,571, according to statistics from the S.C. State Election Commision.

Smalls said her main piece of advice to residents about Tuesday’s election was to “just get out there and vote.”

The final day for in-person absentee voting is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m Monday., which can be done at the Beaufort location on 15 John Galt Road or the Bluffton location on 61 Ulmer Road.

Ahead of Tuesday’s voting, you can find your polling place, check your voter registration, and view a sample ballot on the state’s voting website.

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette’s latest election coverage ranging from answers to FAQ for voters to who’s running in your precinct to final results Tuesday night can be found here.