Board affirms two early-voting centers and approves polling locations for Nov. 4 municipal elections

The Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections approved the county’s two early-voting centers and a proposed set of polling locations for the Nov. 4, 2025 municipal elections during its Aug. 20 meeting.

Director Wendell Robertson (speaker 8) told the board that registration deadlines for the municipal election are: in person by Oct. 3; by email, fax or online by Oct. 5; and by mail postmarked by Oct. 6, 2025 (by 11:59 p.m.). Robertson recommended two early-voting centers — the main office at 15 John Galt Road and the Bluffton Recreation Center — to serve Port Royal, Bluffton and Yemassee. Chair (speaker 2) moved to accept the two centers; the motion was seconded and the board voted to approve the locations.

Robertson also presented a list of proposed polling locations and described several precinct consolidations for this small municipal election to reduce the number of open sites. The board approved the presented polling locations by voice vote.

The director briefed the board on poll-worker training: mandatory briefings are scheduled for Sept. 7 (Bluffton Library) and Sept. 9 (main office), with a Sept. 11 makeup if needed; roughly 160 workers were reported trained so far and an additional class was scheduled for Sept. 17. Robertson said new voter-registration cards for precinct changes will be mailed after the Nov. 4 election to avoid confusing voters who will still vote at the same polling location on election day.

The board also discussed sharing turnout and precinct data with homeowner associations to persuade reluctant gated communities to host polling locations.