WOBURN - With no local races on the ballot, City Clerk William Campbell is predicting a fairly low turnout for tomorrow's party primary elections.

Campbell said the Secretary of State's Office is predicting 30 percent turnout in communities with contested local races, so in communities like Woburn, in which the only contests are some state- or county-wide offices, turnout is likely to be much less.

"I'm figuring 15 percent," Campbell said this morning, possibly even a little lower, between 2,000 and 3,000 voters.

As of Monday morning, he said, the City Clerk's office had only received 120 absentee ballots which is "pretty low."

About 22,000 Woburn residents had registered to vote by the primary deadline of Aug. 28.

The last day to register to vote for the November election is Oct. 16, Campbell said.

Contested races Tuesday include: Republican candidates for lieutenant governor and treasurer; and Democratic candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, U.S. representative for the seventh Congressional District and register of probate. All of seats are uncontested in the primary.

At the polls Tuesday, voters enrolled in a political party (Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or Green) must take a ballot for that party; "unenrolled" registered voters may take a ballot for any of the parties, but they must "declare" for one of the parties and once they take that ballot they may not change their minds. They will become unenrolled again when they leave the polls.

[Campbell noted that in federal elections, that is not currently the case. Unenrolled voters who vote in the primary become a member of the party for which they took a ballot unless they actively unenroll themselves again. He said there is some movement to change that rule.]

Libertarian and Green party voters will be using paper ballots, but not the optical scan ballots used for Democrats and Republicans, Campbell said. He said that because of the small numbers involved, the Secretary of State's Office opted not to use the preprinted forms, but will use those normally used for absentee ballots. Those ballots will be put in the auxiliary slot on the ballot box and hand-tallied at the end of the night, Campbell said.

He also noted that the Socialist Party and National Workers Party are political designations, but there are no ballots for the primary because there are no candidates from those parties running.

Campbell said Woburn should not see any problems like those reported from the recent election in Florida counties as the optical scan voting system doesn't have some of the inherent problems of the touch screen system and Woburn's poll workers received extensive training on the system both last year when it was adopted and continuing this year.

With the optical scan system, voters get a paper ballot on which they fill an oval next to the name of the candidate of their choice, somewhat like an SAT test answer form. The ballot is then run through an optical scanner which records the vote and the ballots are kept in case of recount.

Campbell said he thought the system Woburn selected really is the best as it reduces lines and provides that every ballot can be hand counted in case of a recount, as was discovered here in the last mayor's race.

Campbell said the best way to reduce lines is to get as many people voting at once as possible. The number of voters who can vote at any one time with the optical scanning equipment is limited only by the number of booths set up, whereas with the old lever machines and the new touch screens, which are not certified for use in Massachusetts, the number of voters is limited by the number of machines, which are much more expensive than a voting station and, apparently, more cumbersome and less reliable.

Polls in Woburn will be open tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Voters should have received postcards notifying them of their ward, precinct and voting locations.

Poll locations include:

* Ward 1 Precinct 1, Joyce Middle School;

* Ward 1 Precinct 2, Clapp School;

* Ward 2 (precincts 1 and 2), Shamrock Elementary School, albeit the new one on Green Street;

* Ward 3 (precincts 1 and 2), Hurld Elementary School;

* Ward 4 Precinct 1, Wyman Elementary School;

* Ward 4 Precinct 1, Woburn High;

* Ward 5 (precincts 1 and 2), Goodyear Elementary School;

Ward 6 (precincts 1 and 2), Altavesta School;

* Ward 7 (precincts 1 and 2), new Reeves Elementary School.