Little or No Wait at Most Island Polling Places 

No Wait for evening voters at Christ Lutheran Church, the polling place for residents of Palmetto Dunes in precinct 7A

Hilton Head Islanders and Bluffton residents voted early yesterday at 28 polling places that included schools, churches, libraries, community pavilions and meeting rooms.   Many voters were at their  polling places before they opened and when opened, voters waited up to one hour during the morning at many locations.  There was no wait in the afternoon or evening according to Poll Managers and Observers at Indigo Run,  the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina at Shelter Cove, the First Lutheran Church on William Hilton Parkway near Palmetto Dunes and the Hilton Head School for the Creative Arts.  According to scvotes.org, 58,960 Beaufort County registered voters voted, or 64.87% compared to 70.87% of all  South Carolina registered voters that voted.  

The Hilton Head Land Acquisition Bond Referendum and the Bluffton Town Election Results

• The $17,000,000 non-binding referendum for the Hilton Head Land Aquisition Program passed with a 75% vote (13,386). 
• The Bluffton Town Election for Mayor was won by Lisa Sulka with this vote summary:   

• The Bluffton Town Election for the two vacant Town Councilmen seats had the results below, but these results are now void because of a protest by Jeff Fulgham that was upeheld by the County Election Commission.  A new election will be held but a date for the new election has not been set.  In his letter of protest, Jeff Fulgham said:  ”It appears that approximately 100 Bluffton citixens were not allowed to vote for town candidates.  At least 88 of these are in the Buckwalter area where statistically I have the strongest support base.  With only a deficit of 22 votes, projections show I would have more than likely won had these individuals been allowed to vote.  As a combat vet who has fought for the right of Iraqis to vote, I am disturbed that Mitchell and Hamilton have not joined me in demanding that our fellow citizens are allowed to vote.  If the roles were reversed, I would risk my Council seat to let anyone vote: black, brown, white and from my neighborhood.”   

 Beaufort County is Voter-Friendly 

A touch-screen voting machine at Indigo Run

Tamela Maxim, President of the League of Women Voters of  Bluffton, South Carolina says that Bluffton and Hilton Head Island are friendly places to vote.  ”South Carolina in general is considered a State that is friendly to voters.  It’s easy to register in this State and there are not a lot of restrictions at the polling places that would make it difficult for people to vote.  You still must have your identification but I know from experience as a poll worker that they really do bend over backwards to try and help people when they show up at the wrong place or don’t have the right identification.  They are polite.  If somebody wants to vote a challenge ballot, they go to a lot of trouble to let them do that.  So, there are a lot of things that are always going to be difficult, but Beaufort County tries hard to make it easy for people to be able to find where they are supposed to be so that they can vote.  

One of the reasons that this can be a challenge for some people is because of our population growth.  Growth changes the amount of space and the number of polling places that we need and their locations.  Beaufort County tries not to change polling locations too much but it can’t be helped.  We’ve grown so fast in Beaufort County.  We do our best to keep up!  

Every once in awhile, I get phone calls  from people who ask me where they are supposed to go to vote.   If I don’t have the map in front of me then I direct them to the newspapers which are usually the best source for that information.”  

Indigo Run Residents Vote Within Indigo Run

Indigo Hall is the community pavilion of Indigo Run. This first-year polling place is one of only five polling places that are located within gated communities on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton.

This is the first year that Indigo Run residents were able to vote within their community.  Indigo Hall, the community pavilion within Indigo Run became a polling place for the  presidential primaries in June and the presidential election on November 4.  Indigo Run is now one of five Hilton Head Island and Bluffton gated communities to have polling places within their community security gates.  The other four gated communities are Sea Pines Resort and Hilton Head Plantation on Hilton Head Island and Moss Creek, Belfair and Sun City Hilton Head in Bluffton.

No wait at Indigo Hall at 4 pm for residents of Indigo Run, precinct 2C

Ms. Terry Leary, General Manager of Indigo Run says that it took three years for Indigo Run to become a first-year polling site.  ”The Beaufort County Election Commission anticipated the need for an additional polling place in this area because of the anticipated building and population growth outside of Indigo Run on nearby Leg O’Mutton Road and Marshland Road.  They expected growth there and knew that the development would impact our precinct.  So, they came to me over three years ago - this didn’t happen overnight - and asked  if we would be willing to use Indigo Hall as a precinct polling place.   They felt like it would be justified to have a precinct just for the people within Indigo Run because there were enough numbers here - approximately 1,500 people.  I thought that this would be phenomenal!  So, we proceeded and it took the Department of Justice until June of 2007 to approve it - about two years.  I was thrilled!  We were able to include all areas of  Indigo Run that include the River Club and Broad Pointe so that all Indigo Run residents can vote within our gated community.  Every Indigo Run resident that I have talked to about this has been satisfied with this convenience.  I think that it’s another advantage to living here - an improvement in our quality of life.  We are always working for that.”

Your Voting Experience?

Feel free to share something about your election day experience or observations with the Go Gated Blog!

Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge The Gated Community Specialist ® Go Gated Realty ® Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Rich@gogated.com www.GoGated.com 1-800-333-5025 Read Some of My Clients’ Success Stories

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