Everything to know before voting. Has your precinct’s location changed this year?
If you plan on heading to the polls Tuesday, here’s everything to know before voting in Beaufort County’s busy off-year election.
Both Bluffton and Port Royal have two candidates for mayor, but only Bluffton has races for open town council seats. Also in Bluffton, four people are running for two seats. Up the coast to the north, two candidates are running for the two open seats in Port Royal.
Residents in other parts of the county will have races to decide including a $439 million school board bond referendum and multiple bond measures for Fripp Island totaling $5.2 million.
The polls open at 7 a.m. and will remain open for 12 hours until 7 p.m.
The most important thing to know before voting is where to vote, Board of Voter Registration and Elections Director Marie Smalls said. This year, seven precincts South of the Broad changed voting locations:
- Bluffton 2B - previously voted at the Buckwalter Recreation Center, now votes at H.E. McCracken Middle School.
- Palmetto Bluff - previously voted at H.E. McCracken Middle School, now votes at the Palmetto Bluff POA Conference Room
- Rose Hill - previously voted at Bluffton Middle, now votes at Colleton Point Clubhouse
- Hilton Head 2 - previously voted at the Hilton Head Island Library, now votes at Indigo Pinse
- Hilton Head 3 - previously voted at the Hilton Head Island Library, now votes at the Palmetto Golf Course
- Hilton Head 4B - previously voted at the school for creative arts, now votes at the Cyprus Club
There were no precinct changes North of the Broad.
Voters can verify their precinct at SCvotes.gov.
As of Monday morning, 3,031 early votes were cast, a small turnout Smalls said. That’s about 2% of Beaufort County’s registered voters, she added.
Earlier results expected this year
In past years, elections results from Bluffton and Hilton Head took time to be reported because the distance the collected results needed to be carried for processing and counting at the Board of Voter Registration and Elections on John Galt Road. But, a system developed during last year’s election hopes to remedy that issue. This year, the votes will be collected from precincts south of the Broad River once in the middle of the day. The remaining ballots will be collected after voting has ended at 7 p.m.. This new process will allow for the votes collected midday to be counted shortly after the polls close. Smalls cites the main difference voters will see are preliminary Bluffton race results being reported shortly after the polls close.
