Worcester election commissioners approve moving Ward 3, Precinct 4 polling place to Seabury Heights

The Worcester Board of Election Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to move Ward 3, Precinct 4’s polling place from Worcester Technical High School to the Seabury Heights Apartments community room at 240–244 Belmont Street.

Commissioner Vandersbeck and four fellow commissioners approved the change during a public hearing in the Levi Lincoln Chamber after staff presented site details and resident feedback.

The change, staff said, responds to residents’ requests for a closer, more accessible polling site. “This is a community room, so residents use this for different events. The management office is right down this hall from this room. The parking is accessible. There’s handicap entrance,” a staff member said while describing the Seabury Heights space. Staff also said the building operator has agreed to suspend construction on election day and to make about 25 to 30 visitor parking spaces available near the community room.

Staff told commissioners they had mailed postcards to notify residents about the hearing and said they would notify neighbors again after the vote and before the September election. “We will notify the residents again that the board took an action to move the location. Probably send another postcard in a couple, I would say, a week or so,” the staff member said. Staff also said poll workers will be trained to direct voters who arrive at the Technical High School to Seabury Heights when appropriate and that signage will be posted at the Technical High School on election days.

Commissioners discussed methods to reduce voter confusion—suggestions included targeted Worcester alert messages and visible signs near the Technical High School entrance announcing the new precinct location—but staff cautioned signage could be confusing because the Technical High School will remain a double location. The staff member said they would “strategize how to best approach that.”

The commissioners cast a roll-call vote in favor of the relocation. The recorded tally was five votes in favor, zero against.

Commissioners and staff said the move is intended to make voting easier for residents of the two high-rise buildings at Seabury Heights, many of whom are elderly or have limited mobility. Staff estimated that “between the two buildings, there are several hundred voters” living at the complex.

Next steps include formal notice to affected voters, additional postcards, and on-site signage on election days; staff said they will also explore targeted digital alerts for the ward. The board scheduled no further procedural action on the relocation at the meeting.