Board of Elections hosting community forums
The Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Beaufort County will be hosting several Community Forums in the months leading up to the June Primary Elections.
These meetings will be open to the public and are held at locations across Beaufort County.
Topics include:
- How to Register/Who Can Register to Vote
- Upcoming Elections
- What is on the Ballot
- What voters can expect at the polls
- Absentee Voting
- Early Voting
- Sample Ballots
- Poll Workers
- And More
Dates and Locations of Forums:
• Thursday, January 22, 6 p.m., Main Voter Registration Office, 15 John Galt Road Beaufort, S.C. 29906
• Thursday, February 19, 6 p.m., Bluffton Library, 120 Palmetto Way, Bluffton, S.C. 29910
• Thursday, March 19, 6 p.m., St. Helena Library; 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road, St. Helena Island, S.C. 29920
• Thursday, April 9, 6 p.m., Hilton Head Island Library, 11 Beach City Road Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29926
For more information, please contact Jean Felix at 843-255-6954 or via email at jean.felix@bcgov.net.
County Council hosting ‘Chat With Council’
Beaufort County Council is hosting another “Chat With Council” as an opportunity for members of the public to get to know Council members and ask questions.
The chat will be held Thursday, Jan. 22, from 6 until 7:30 p.m., at Bluffton Branch Library, 120 Palmetto Way.
The chat will be informal and registration is not required. There will be a sign up sheet for those interested in speaking however no minutes will be taken, the meetings will not be televised, nor will County staff be on premises. All Council members may be in attendance, however even if it’s a quorum, Council will not hold any votes or conduct any official business as part of this community meeting.
Council members are encouraging all members of the public to attend and ask questions on any topic of concern to them. For more information, please contact the Clerk to Council’s office at 843-255-2180.
Friends of Fort Fremont meeting, lecture to be held Jan. 23
Col. Seanegan Sculley, Professor and Director of West Point’s Digital History Center, will give a talk titled “Creating the Interactive Digital History of Fort Fremont,” at 2 p.m., Friday, Jan. 23 at the St. Helena Branch Library. The event is free and open to the public.
Following a short business meeting, Col. Sculley will discuss the study’s progress following a cadet and faculty visit to Fort Fremont in July 2025 and subsequent research which focused on homeland coastal defense at Fort Fremont at the turn of the 20th century. The end product will apply state-of-the-art technology to bring history to life through digital animation.
Beaufort TEA Party meeting Jan. 26
South Carolina GOP Chair Drew McKissick will be the guest speaker when the Beaufort TEA Party meets from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 26 at Bricks on Boundary at 1422 Boundary Street.
As we kick off the 2026 Election Season, McKissick will outline what to expect in the months ahead.
Candidates for office, and their representatives, have also been invited to attend with their promotional materials. The public is invited to join, mix and mingle as they meet these individuals and learn their platforms
Tax season opens Jan. 26
The SCDOR will begin accepting 2025 Individual Income Tax returns on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, consistent with the date announced by the IRS.
Returns are due April 15, 2026. For your South Carolina return, if you both file and pay electronically by May 1, 2026, you will not be subject to penalties or interest.
Questions about how South Carolina conforms with the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act? Refer to https://bit.ly/49yzdDJ.
The SCDOR will begin processing returns Feb. 2, 2026 to allow employers time to meet the Jan. 31 W-2 submission deadline.
Beaufort Republican Women’s Club holding luncheon Feb. 7
The Beaufort Republican Women’s Club will hold its Annual Membership Recruitment Luncheon at 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in the Carolina Room at the Dataw Island Club at 123 Dataw Drive on St. Helena Island. Kevin Hennelly, Chairman of the Beaufort County Republican Party, will speak about “Why Unity Matters.”
The cost of the buffet luncheon is $40 per person and by reservation only. To reserve your seat, please mail your check to BRWC, P.O. Box 1835, Beaufort, S.C. 29901 by Jan. 28, 2026. Please join us to hear how you can become involved. For further information, please email Kim Handy at handyabc@gmail.com.
