By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, Mo – As candidates in St. Louis city make their final push for votes in Tuesday's primary election, Mayor Francis Slay says he doesn't anticipate problems in running polls or counting votes.
The mayor also says he expects a lower turnout tomorrow because all the races are local; of the 20 contests on the ballot, only eight feature more than one candidate.
"We cannot go all out like we did last time, we just can't continue to do it," Slay said. "The Election Board is a state agency, it's not run by my office. They really need to be self-sufficient."
"I think we've put some systems in place; we gave them a lot of help and advice in the past. There should be no excuse, at least, for anything other than a smooth-running election."
In last November's election, city workers were allowed to have the day off to work as election judges. But Slay says that will not be the case this time.
The Justice Department sued the St. Louis Election Board after the November 2000 election, when a number of voters were turned away amidst confusion.
The race for Board of Alderman president is the only citywide election Tuesday; but none of the candidates faces opposition within their party.
Of the other 19 aldermanic races, only eight are contested.