Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Public Records

Registration deadlines require completion at least 30 days before an election. Applicants must provide their South Carolina driver's license or ID card number, or if they lack those documents, the last four digits of their Social Security number. The Town of Hilton Head Island schedules municipal elections for the first Tuesday in November during odd-numbered years, with the next contest set for November 2025. Seven Town Council members including the mayor serve staggered four-year terms. Candidate qualifying and local ballot measures specific to the island can be tracked through the town website at www.hiltonheadislandsc.gov or through the Beaufort County elections office, which administers municipal elections. Residents can locate their assigned polling place by visiting scVOTES.gov/south-carolina-voter-information-center and entering their address, or by calling the elections office directly. During the November 2024 presidential election, Beaufort County recorded approximately 65% voter turnout, with roughly 103,000 registered voters casting approximately 67,000 ballots. Looking ahead to November 3, 2026, island voters will decide several significant races including South Carolina's gubernatorial election, where the Governor serves a four-year term. All seats in the South Carolina House of Representatives will be contested with two-year terms, along with State Senate District 46 with four-year staggered terms. U.S. Senate seats are not on the ballot in 2026, as South Carolina's senators were last elected in 2022 and 2020. County-level positions including Beaufort County Council seats, Sheriff, Auditor, Treasurer, and other constitutional officers may also appear depending on term expirations. Absentee voting in South Carolina operates under specific criteria established by state law. Eligible voters include those 65 or older, physically disabled, members of the armed forces or their spouses and dependents, government employees serving overseas and their spouses and dependents, persons confined to a jail or pre-trial facility pending disposition, patients admitted to the hospital as emergencies on Election Day, or those scheduled to work during polling hours who cannot vote before or after their shift. Applications are available at scVOTES.gov or through the Beaufort County office, and must be received by 5:00 PM the day before the election. South Carolina does not offer universal mail-in voting. Public election records in the state include voter registration lists, available with restrictions under SC Code § 7-5-340 to prevent misuse, along with campaign finance reports filed with the State Ethics Commission at ethics.sc.gov. Candidate filing information and precinct-level results are also public. The county office publishes detailed election results by precinct after each contest, while the South Carolina Election Commission maintains statewide results at scVOTES.gov. Candidates raising or spending over $500 must file campaign finance disclosures online, with reports searchable through the State Ethics Commission public portal.