Dearborn residents who want to vote on Nov. 3 have until Monday, Oct. 19, to register by mail, online or at a Secretary of State office.

After that deadline, voters can still register in person with proof of residency at the Dearborn City Clerk's office, 16901 Michigan Ave., through 8 p.m. on Election Day. The clerk's office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the city's official notice of registration.

Residents can register online or check and update their registration through the Michigan Voter Information Center. Registration through the Wayne County Clerk's office is also available through Oct. 19.

The City Clerk's office will offer additional in-person registration with proof of residency at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave., on Saturday, Oct. 24, Sunday, Oct. 25, and Sunday, Nov. 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The clerk's office at 16901 Michigan Ave. is also open Saturday, Oct. 31, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Early in-person voting runs Saturday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Nov. 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, according to the city’s elections page.

What's on the ballot

School board contests and school bond questions depend on a voter’s school district. Residents can check their individual ballot through the Michigan Voter Information Center.

For voters within Dearborn Public Schools, the ballot includes a bond asking voters to authorize up to $1.51 billion in borrowing to replace or extensively remodel every school in the district over 20 years. The Board of Education approved the ballot language at its Monday, June 22, meeting, according to the district's website.

The bond would fund construction in four phases, including six new preschool-through-eighth-grade schools and major renovations at Fordson, Dearborn and Edsel Ford high schools. The district's last successful bond was in 2013.

The proposed bond’s estimated first-year tax rate is 3.14 mills. The district says Dearborn homeowners would see no net increase in their combined city and school tax rate because the city’s 0.96-mill sewer debt tax is ending and the district would stop collecting its 2.18-mill operating tax on homeowners if the bond passes.

The sewer tax reduction would occur regardless of the election result. Tax effects differ for Dearborn Heights homeowners and nonhomestead properties, including businesses and rentals, according to the district’s bond information and FAQs.

"It's not the seven board members' bond. This is the community's bond," Superintendent Mike Esseily told The Yemeni American News in a Sept. 14 profile.

Four school board seats

Four seats on the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education are also on the ballot: three full six-year terms and one partial two-year term, according to The Yemeni American News.

Five candidates are running for the three full-term seats: incumbents Adel Mozip, Mary Petlichkoff and Nasri Sobh, along with Mallak Anani and Mohamed Ali Hammoud. Voters may select up to three.

Incumbent Ali K. Bazzi faces Nofila Haidar for the partial two-year term. Bazzi was appointed in September 2025 to replace Irene Watts, who resigned after moving out of the district, according to Dearborn Public Schools. Voters pick one.

School board races are nonpartisan. Voters who select a straight party ticket for other offices must separately fill in their school board choices.

Other races and proposals

Other contests include governor, attorney general, secretary of state, U.S. Senate, state Senate, U.S. House, state House, State Board of Education, university governing boards and judicial races. The city’s registration notice also lists Wayne County executive and the Westwood Community School Board.

The notice lists two statewide proposals: a question on whether to hold a constitutional convention and an initiated law on campaign finance regulations. Both appear in the state’s official ballot-question document.

It also lists a Wayne County Zoo Authority millage renewal and restoration of 0.10 mill for 10 years, a Southeast Michigan Public Historical Museum Authority millage of 0.2 mill for 10 years, and the DPS bond for voters within that district.

The official registration notice is dated Oct. 3.