Staff Writer

June 5, 2000 11 PM

Fewer than one-third of Alabama registered voters are expected to head to the polls today.

Secretary of State Jim Bennett has predicted between 20 and 30 percent of those registered will actually vote and Alabama has over two million registered voters.

Bennett has predicted those figures based on the last presidential primaries when, in 1996, only 23 percent voted.

Voter turnout depends greatly on the interest in local races.

Those planning to vote in the Republican Party will have a long ballot to complete.

First on the ballot will be the candidates for president ­ George W. Bush and Alan Keyes ­ followed by a long list of potential delegates to the Republican National Convention.

State candidates for Alabama Supreme Court Justice are: Pam "Walking" Baschab, Roy Moore, Harold See and Wayne Thorn. Candidates for Court of Civil Appeals, Place 1 are: Tommy Bryan, Richard Lawrence, Ralph Long and Craig Pittman. Don Mansell, Tony Riley and Greg Shaw are seeking the GOP nomination for the Place 1 seat on the Court of Criminal Appeals while David Estes and Kelli Wise vie for the Place 2 seat and Alice Martin and Billy Joe Sheffield run for the Place 3 seat.

There are only two contested races for Pike County Commission Republican candidates. Jimmy Barron is running in District 3 against incumbent Larry Penn and Roy Pugh and John Schmidt are running to unseat a Democrat. Scott Flowers and Marvin "Pete" Jordan are running for constable in Beat 6.

Voters who choose to cast ballots in the Democratic Primary will have fewer decisions to make.

Their choices for president will be Al Gore and Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr. They will also choose four female and four male delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Democratic choices for United States Representative are Joe Fondren and Charles Woods.

Janie Baker Clarke and Henry Steagall III are running for Place 2 on the Court of Civil Appeals while Gene Reese and Donna Wesson Smalley want to win the Place 3 race.

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3 nominees are Sue Bell Cobb and Yvonne Henderson Saxon.

Residents here will also vote on member of the State Board of Education, District 5. Those candidates are: Ella B. Bell, Latosha Brown and Robert A. Lane.

Candidates for Pike County Commission, District 3 are Joe B. Allen and Sherrill Calhoun.

Three Democrats ­ Donnie Daniels, incumbent Ray Goodson and Terry Sneed ­ are running for the District 4 seat on the county commission.

Jeff Baker, incumbent Charlie Harris and Jake Wingard are all wanting to sit in the District 5 seat.

Incumbent Karen T. Berry and Ralph G. Rainey are seeking the Democratic nomination for District 6.

Pike County Board of Education, District 5, has three Democrats running. They are: incumbent Willo D. Baker, Paula U. Hall and Herbert Reynolds.

In addition to candidates names, there will be one Constitutional Amendment on the ballot. The proposed amendment, if passed, would require the election of the members of city boards of education in municipalities with populations over 125,000 upon the approval of a majority vote by electors in the municipality.

Although a low voter turnout is expected today, more will likely vote on Nov. 7. In 1992, turnout for the General Election was 76 percent and it was 62 percent in 1996.

The polls open today at 7 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.