Early‑voting ad hoc committee: add equipment, not a new center, unless staffing increases

At its April meeting, the Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections heard an ad hoc committee report that explored ways to increase early‑voting throughput and whether to open a fifth early‑voting center.

The committee found that adding ballot‑processing equipment at existing early‑voting centers would likely increase capacity without the larger staffing and facility costs of a new site. The group said a new center would require a dedicated, full‑time staff person; with 11 full‑time office staff currently on payroll, opening a fifth center would “take 10 of our 11 existing staff away,” creating operational problems if no additional hire is made.

Why it matters: Beaufort County is adding housing and voters, and early voting volumes have risen. The committee considered both short‑term fixes, such as redistributing machines and adding poll books or ballot‑marking devices (BMDs), and longer‑term options that would require more staff and facility searches.

Key findings and recommendations - Throughput assumptions used by the committee: average time to process at a poll book ≈ 1.5 minutes; BMD maximum transaction ≈ 5 minutes; scanner ≈ 0.5 minute. Using those assumptions across a 9½‑hour day, the committee modeled voters per hour and per 12‑day early‑voting period and found only moderate deltas when equipment counts were adjusted. The committee noted these are assumptions and can be adjusted in the model. - Existing facilities were preliminarily judged capable of supporting additional equipment (space, electricity and security), so equipment limits are not an immediate barrier. - A dedicated “resolution” poll‑book station (staffed by an experienced clerk to clear ID and registration issues) was recommended for headquarters and other high‑volume locations to reduce backup at primary poll‑book tables. - The committee recommended standardized poll‑worker scripts and improved voter education (social media, print, radio, signage) to direct voters to the nearest early‑voting center and reduce bottlenecks at high‑traffic sites. - Separate curbside voting stations and clearer parking/entry signage can reduce congestion at busy locations. - Warehouse capacity for storing additional equipment needs verification.

What the committee will do next: members said they will meet again to refine recommendations, finalize throughput models, and reach consensus on whether to recommend adding equipment to existing centers or proposing a fifth center (including staff‑cost estimates). The board chair asked the ad hoc group to focus on maximizing throughput with limited resources and to quantify staffing impacts if a new center is recommended.

Context and background: Committee members reported site‑level observations from Hilton Head, Bluffton and St. Helena early‑voting operations, and discussed redirecting voters in outlying areas to nearer centers to even workloads. The report notes anticipated population growth in the county and recommended continued monitoring of the effect on early‑voting demand.

Next steps: the ad hoc committee will reconvene to firm up its recommendation, including cost and staffing implications, and return with a final proposal for the board to consider.