Special Sales & Use Tax - Question 1
Beaufort County, South Carolina
My vote power
Normal
Election date
November 3, 2026
How do we calculate my vote power?
What goes into the rating: Representation: how much weight one vote carries here compared with a statewide vote — the smaller the district, the more each vote counts. Decisiveness: how likely this race is to be close, based on past results or current analyst ratings, plus the number of candidates.
Representation: Normal · 65 out of 100
This district covers a large share of its state, so each vote carries about average weight — like a vote in a statewide race. About 195,289 people live here.
Show the representation math
score = 50 + 50 × ln(state population ÷ this district's) ÷ ln(50,000) = 50 + 50 × ln(5,296,225 ÷ 195,289) ÷ ln(50,000) = 65.25, measured against a statewide vote in SC (grades: 66+ high, 33+ normal, otherwise low; a statewide race is the 50 baseline)
Normal representation → My vote power: Normal.
Ballot Measure
Supports: Public Infrastructure
Beaufort County would add a 1% sales and use tax on most purchases in the county to pay for road and traffic work. The tax would run up to nine years or until it raises $780,000,000, whichever comes first. The money is earmarked for three project groups: $326,000,000 for intersection and safety work, $205,000,000 for road widening, and the remainder for resurfacing county and municipal roads, including Daufuskie Island. Named projects include the SC 170/US 278 diverging diamond interchange, Ribaut Road corridor improvements, and countywide traffic signal upgrades.
Read the official ballot measure
A YES vote means
Shoppers pay one extra cent per dollar on taxable purchases in Beaufort County starting with the new tax period, and the county collects up to $780,000,000 over no more than nine years to build the listed road, intersection, widening and resurfacing projects.
A NO vote means
No new 1% county sales and use tax is imposed, shoppers keep paying the current rate, and the listed transportation projects go unfunded unless the county finds other money for them.
Sources: beaufortcountypenny.com · vrems.scvotes.sc.gov