Sterling Heights moves polling places for eight precincts and about 18,000 voters on Nov. 3; early voting opens Saturday at two sites

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — About 18,000 Sterling Heights voters will cast ballots somewhere other than their usual polling place on Nov. 3, because five of the city’s regular voting sites are unavailable for this election, City Clerk Melanie Ryska told the city’s Election Commission.

The change affects eight precincts, according to the draft minutes of the commission’s Oct. 12 meeting. Each affected voter was mailed a notice of the temporary location, and signs will go up at the original sites the week before the election, Ryska said.

Where the eight precincts vote this year (from the clerk’s Election Day page):

Precincts 17 and 19, normally at Henry Ford High School: Utica United Methodist Church, 8650 Canal Road.
Precincts 23 and 29, normally at Graebner Elementary: Stevenson High School, ECC Room, 39701 Dodge Park Road.
Precincts 27 and 28, normally at Havel Elementary: Stevenson High School gym, same address.
Precinct 31, normally at DeKeyser Elementary: Plumbrook Elementary, 39660 Spalding Drive.
Precinct 36, normally at the Gibbing Administration Building: Gene L. Klida UAIS, 37400 Dodge Park Road.

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters who are not sure of their precinct can look it up through the city’s Election Day page or the Michigan Voter Information Center.

Early voting starts Saturday. Any Sterling Heights voter can vote early at either of two sites, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, including weekends: the Sterling Heights Community Center, 40250 Dodge Park Road (side entrance), and the Chaldean Community Foundation, 3601 15 Mile Road (rear entrance). Both open Saturday, Oct. 24. The Chaldean Community Foundation site closes after Sunday, Nov. 1. The city’s early voting page lists the Community Center as also open Monday, Nov. 2, though the Oct. 12 minutes gave Nov. 1 as the last day; check with the clerk before counting on that extra day. Voters who already have an absentee ballot can bring it to an early voting site and feed it into the tabulator themselves.

Drop boxes. Absentee ballots can go in any of seven city drop boxes: the Police Station, 40333 Dodge Park Road; the Senior Center, 40200 Utica Road; the Nature Preserve, 2460 Dobry Drive; Fire Station 2, 12825 19 Mile Road; Fire Station 3, 5250 15 Mile Road; Fire Station 4, 12850 15 Mile Road; and Delia Dog Park, 41801 Ryan Road. Ballots must reach the clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Inside the clerk’s office. The commission voted unanimously to let the clerk start processing and tabulating absentee ballots on any of the eight days before Election Day, as state law allows, though Ryska said all eight probably won’t be needed. She also told commissioners that Republican election inspector slots have been hard to fill, and that the city is getting recruiting help from Macomb County and the state and has reached out to local high schools and Macomb Community College. Residents interested in working the polls can call the clerk at 586-446-2420 or email vote@sterlingheights.gov.

Separately, the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks gave the office a MiExcellence Award, presented at the Oct. 20 City Council meeting, for handheld translation devices that help staff serve voters with limited English at polling places and at the counter. The city said the devices cost it nothing because they were bought with election grant money.

For more from the city, see our Sterling Heights page and our Election 2026 coverage.

Sources:
City of Sterling Heights, “Election Day Voting” (temporary polling locations, poll hours), https://www.sterlingheights.gov/2263/Election-Day-Voting
City of Sterling Heights, “Early Voting” (sites, dates, hours, absentee ballot tabulation), https://www.sterlingheights.gov/2261/Early-Voting
City of Sterling Heights, “Voter Resources” (clerk contact, drop box locations), https://www.sterlingheights.gov/2260/Voter-Resources
City of Sterling Heights Election Commission, draft minutes of Oct. 12, 2026 (18,000 voters, early tabulation, inspector recruitment, early voting dates), https://www.sterlingheights.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10122026-3136
City of Sterling Heights, “Sterling Heights Clerk’s Office Earns Statewide MiExcellence Award,” Oct. 21, 2026, https://www.sterlingheights.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?aid=2129
Photo: Ajay Suresh, “Sterling Heights, Michigan (55432151078).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sterling_Heights,_Michigan_(55432151078).jpg

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Tags: Sterling Heights · Election 2026 · Polling Places · Early Voting · City Clerk · Macomb County