Local contests for mayor, sheriff and judge, along with sales-tax debates in North Dakota's two largest cities, are likely to influence how many voters go to the polls Tuesday, Secretary of State Al Jaeger said.

"The races for local offices, and local issues, I think that's going to drive a lot in terms of what the turnout will be," Jaeger said. "The election in June usually has a much lower turnout, and that's always a concern of mine."

Two statewide constitutional amendments have stirred little interest. Measure 1 would remove age, gender and residency references to North Dakota's National Guard, while Measure 2 mostly deletes 19-century provisions relating to corporations, railroads and banks.

Five Minot attorneys are competing for two spots on the general election ballot for a Northwest District judgeship. The incumbent, Robert Holte, is retiring at year's end, and his position will be moved from Stanley to Minot.

Two of the candidates, Richard Hager and Mark Rasmuson, have run previously for state district judgeships. This year, attorneys Mark Flagstad, Robert Thomas and Todd Cresap have joined the race.

Cresap said it was difficult for him to get used to campaigning.

"It takes a certain personality, I think, to go up to a perfect stranger and initiate a conversation, especially when you initiate it about yourself," he said. "That's something that we North Dakotans aren't, as a rule, very comfortable doing, and I don't know that I'm any more comfortable than the average person doing that."

In Fargo, residents will consider whether to continue a local 1 percent sales tax to replace water mains, repair streets and finance flood-control projects, and set aside another one-half percent tax to help reduce school property taxes.

Bismarck voters will decide whether to bump the city's sales tax from 1 percent to 1.5 percent to finance improvements to the city's parks system.

Republican voters will decide state House primaries in Bismarck, Williston and District 33, a coal-producing region that includes Oliver and parts of Morton and Mercer counties. In each district, three Republicans are running for two spots on the general election ticket.

In District 23, which includes Nelson and Griggs counties and parts of three neighboring counties, two New Rockford men, Preston Meier and Frank Walker, are competing for the Republican nomination to run for the state Senate.

Rolette County's District 9 lacks any state Senate candidate. The incumbent, Sen. Dennis Bercier, D-Belcourt, decided at the last minute not to seek re-election, and no other candidate could meet the filing deadline.

So three Democrats - former state Rep. Doug Lemieux of Rolette and two Belcourt residents, Wannetta Bennett and Richard Marcellais, are waging write-in campaigns. No Republican is making a similar effort in the heavily Democratic district.

The highest vote-getter among the three will be the Democratic Senate candidate in the fall election. But even the most popular write-in must have at least 137 votes to be eligible to run on the party ballot in the fall, said Valerie McCloud, the Rolette County auditor.

Turnout in the county could be brisk because of the write-in effort and a crowded sheriff's race. Seven men are listed on the ballot as candidates to succeed Sheriff Tony Sims, and an eighth is waging a write-in campaign, McCloud said. Sims is not seeking re-election.

"As far as the turnout, I don't know what to expect," McCloud said. "In the last couple of primary elections, the turnout has been light, but we do have some contested offices this time."

Voter turnout in North Dakota's primary has lagged in recent years. In the 2004 elections, only 92,209 people, or 19 percent of the estimated voting-age population, cast ballots.

North Dakota has no voter registration, and turnout is calculated using an estimate of the state's voting-age population, compiled by the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University in Fargo.