[11/3/03]With heavy absentee voting recorded and favorable weather forecast for Tuesday’s general election, Warren County election officials this morning predicted strong voter turnout.

Polls in the county’s 22 precincts will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Returns will be posted as they come in at the district attorney’s Web site, www.msda9.com/election, and will be broadcast on local radio stations WQBC 1420 AM and WBBV 101.3 FM.

Weather is predicted to be partly cloudy and warm, with temperatures in the mid-80s.

Saturday was the last day for voters to vote on absentee ballots, and nearly 800 were cast, circuit clerk Larry Ashley said. About 50 to 60 people a day “kept us busy” casting absentee ballots during the last week of absentee voting, Ashley added.

“That’s an indication that it’s going to probably be a pretty good turnout,” he said.

Warren County has 33,207 voters registered for the general election, circuit clerk’s office records showed. That total is 185 fewer than the 33,392 that were reported before the Aug. 5 primary elections because some voters have been purged from the rolls since then, deputy circuit clerk Shelly Ashley-Palmertree said.

In 1999, the last general election in which voters chose candidates for the same offices, turnout in the county was about 48 percent.

“From all indications, we’re going to have a really good turnout,” said Bovina poll manager Mark Chaney, who has either held elective office or managed the poll for about 50 years.

Chaney said he has sensed “a lot of interest” in races at the statewide and county levels.

Poll manager Carla Jones of the City Auditorium precinct also said public interest seems high.

“You’ve got a lot riding on this one, so (turnout) is going to pick up a lot,” she said.