BEAUFORT, S.C. — Early ballots made up more than half of all votes counted in Beaufort County in Tuesday midterm election, a modern local record that tracked a surge statewide.
County figures show 46,310 residents voted early out of 86,689 total ballots cast, about 53 percent of the local vote. That share topped the 2022 midterm pattern, when 27,196 early ballots were about 38 percent of a smaller county total.
Roughly 61 percent of registered Beaufort County voters participated this year, up from about 52 percent in 2022 and the strongest midterm showing here since 1994, based on South Carolina Election Commission historical tallies.
Early voting ran Oct. 19 through Oct. 31 at four sites, including the busy Bluffton Branch Library plus locations in Beaufort, on Hilton Head Island and on St. Helena Island.
Statewide, election officials said South Carolina broke gubernatorial-cycle turnout marks as well, with more than 1.9 million ballots already recorded by 6 p.m. Election Day and participation near 56 percent of registered voters before polls closed.
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Filed under: Beaufort SC Politics News
