Here’s when and where to vote on Election Day — and how you can find out who won afterward

Sebastian Lee
Tracy Kimball/tkimball@heraldonline.com

Tuesday is Election Day, and voters in the Lowcountry and across the country will head to the polls to cast votes for a variety of candidates and issues, from electing a new mayor on Hilton Head Island to possibly tipping the balance of power in the U.S. House and Senate.

Over half a million people already have cast their votes in South Carolina’s midterm election during the early voting period. In Beaufort County, over 26,000 took advantage of early voting, which is a little over 19% of the county’s total voting population, according to the Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections.

Here’s what you need to know:

When and where can I vote?

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. However, if someone is in line to vote when the polls close, under the law they will still be allowed to cast their vote, according to Marie Smalls, director of the Beaufort County election board.

Don’t know where to vote? Voting precincts can be found at scvotes.gov.

When voting in person, you will be asked to show one of the following as proof of identification:

  • A South Carolina driver’s license

  • SC Department of Motor Vehicles ID card

  • SC concealed weapons permit

  • SC voter registration card with photo

  • U.S. passport

  • Federal military ID

Who or what are on the ballot?

In South Carolina, the midterm elections feature races for U.S. Senate and House districts, governor, superintendent of education and various seats in the S.C. State House.

In Beaufort County, voters will elect a new mayor on Hilton Head Island. They also will vote for new representatives on the Beaufort County Council, Hilton Head Town Council, Beaufort County School Board and the Beaufort City Council.

A list of all candidates running for election can be found on our website at www.islandpacket.com along with profiles of local candidates and their responses to questions posed to them by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

There also will be two ballot questions at the bottom of Beaufort County voters’ ballots:

One, a statewide constitutional amendment question asks whether the state’s reserve fund minimums should be increased. This means the state will put a larger percentage of its budget into these funds.

The other, a countywide question, is the Green Space penny sales tax referendum. If approved, Beaufort County will raise its sales tax by 1 cent for two years, or until $100 million is raised, to purchase and protect green space from development.

How can I find out who won?

On Tuesday night, we’ll be monitoring election results as they are reported, but it isn’t likely to be early. You can follow the trends and find the winners in one of three ways:

▪ Go to The Island Packet.com throughout the evening, as we’ll be updating numbers from local and select state races, such as governor and the U.S. House 1st Congressional District.

▪ Go directly to scvotes.gov and find the race or races you’re interested in.

▪ Check out the Island Packet newspaper Wednesday morning. It will have QR codes that will take you to the results of some of the biggest races on the ballot right on your phone.

You won’t know official election results on election night. For those, we’ll all be waiting for the counties and Secretary of State to officially certify the count. But except in cases where a race or ballot issue is extremely close, most outcomes will be known by early Wednesday morning.

Beaufort County hopes to avoid the late reporting of results experienced during the June primary, where ballots were still being counted after 1 a.m. Beaufort County’s geography is party responsible, according to Smalls with the Beaufort County election board, In some cases, it takes polls workers an hour or more to deliver ballots to the board’s “election central” headquarters in Beaufort after the polls close.

This year, the board plans to send out staff to some far-flung polling locations to bring back ballots early. Also, absentee ballots and early voting results will be tabulated after the polls close.

Here’s what not to do

Did you know that taking a photo of your ballot is illegal under South Carolina law.? Here are some things you can’t do at the polls:

  • Taking any type of mechanical device inside an election booth that allows for ballot marking

  • Lingering at a voting location

  • Interfering with any voter inside a polling place or attempting to mark their ballot

  • Unduly influencing or attempting to influence voters in the preparation of their ballot

  • Showing voters how to mark a ballot

  • Campaigning and having political signs within 500 feet of a polling place.

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