JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri election officials are predicting 31 percent of registered voters will cast ballots in next Tuesday’s primary elections.

If the prediction holds true, that would be the highest voter turnout in a Missouri primary since 2004.

Nearly 36 percent of voters turned out in that election a dozen years ago, when then-Auditor Claire McCaskill defeated Gov. Bob Holden in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. The top draw that year was a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman.

This year, the four-way Republican governor’s primary has drawn the most public attention and campaign spending. The ballot also includes contested primaries for Missouri’s other statewide offices.

The turnout projections range from a low of 16 percent in Platte County to a high of nearly 68 percent in Hickory County.

In Buchanan County, Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey is predicting a turnout of around 28 percent.

(AP and POST)