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With Election Day approaching, California Secretary of State Bill Jones is predicting that only about 36 percent of eligible voters will bother to cast ballots on Tuesday. 

Local Bay Area officials interviewed today have similarly low expectations. 

Jones cited a number of factors as contributing to the poor expected turnout, including the earliest primary in state history, the lack of high-profile ballot measures and the international war on terrorism. 

“Because of the competition for voter attention, the early election date and a variety of other factors, we estimate that the turnout of registered voters this March will be approximately 36 percent,” Jones said. 

He said a later than usual February Super Bowl and the recently concluded Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City also may have siphoned some of the interest away from the election. 

Jones said the tight three-way race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination could help elevate turnout though. In addition, he said that the removal of more than 2 million ineligible voters from the rolls in recent years should help provide a more accurate depiction of voter participation. 

Contra Costa County elections officials said today they are anticipating a turnout of roughly 40 percent on Election Day. Alameda County Assistant Registrar Elaine Ginnold said they are expecting a 38 percent turnout. 

“It’s disappointing considering we spent six months preparing for it,” Ginnold said. 

San Francisco Department of Elections Director Tammy Haygood, however, said today that she does not prognosticate. 

“We don't predict turnout, we count votes,” Haygood said. “We’re just encouraging people to vote.” Haygood joined Jones in reminding voters that the election will operate as a "modified primary'' because of the U.S. Supreme Court's invalidation of California's open primary initiative. 

As a result, voters who are registered with a political party may vote only for candidates in their own party. Voters who declined to state a party affiliation when they registered to vote may request the ballot for one of the four political parties that have opened up their primary to nonpartisan registrants. Those are the Democratic, Republican, American Independent and Natural Law partiesHaygood also reminded voters to check their polling places, which might have changed due to redistricting.Election information is available online at http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections.htm.