METHUEN — There's a mayoral election and contested races for City Council and School Committee, but City Clerk Christine Touma-Conway said the ballot question asking people if they want the city charter to be reviewed is the item most likely to boost voter turnout on Tuesday.

"We normally do around 35 percent for a municipal election. I think the Charter Commission (question) is going to create a little bit more activity, so I'm going to go somewhere close to 40 percent," Touma-Conway said of her prediction for how many of Methuen's approximately 28,500 registered voters will hit the polls.

The ballot question will ask voters if they want to create a commission to review the charter, and it will ask them to select nine of 34 candidates running for the commission.

People who vote against creating the Charter Commission should still vote for nine commission candidates, said Jack Burke, vice president of Citizens for a Better Government, the group that organized the ballot question.

"Think of it, if you're in the minority and the ballot question passes and you didn't get a vote, then you didn't have any say or input in the make-up of the commission," he said.

Touma-Conway said 279 people have requested absentee ballots, which is not significantly more than usual. The deadline for applying for absentee ballots is tomorrow at noon, unless you wind up in the hospital, she said.

The most high-profile race is between Mayor William Manzi and challenger Al DiNuccio.

"We are trying to identify the people that are sympathetic to our campaign and follow it up with individualized phone calls," Manzi said of his final campaign push.

He had a pancake breakfast at the Senior Activity Center yesterday morning where Lt. Gov. Tim Murray showed up to endorse him.

Manzi said he thinks he'll win re-election, but didn't offer a prediction for the margin of victory.

"Unlike Muhammad Ali, I don't have any poetry or predictions on the election," he said.

DiNuccio did not return a phone message in time for this story.

Eight of the nine city councilors are running for re-election, and there are seven challengers.

In the West District, James Hajjar and Edward Guy Jr. are challenging incumbent councilors Jeanne Pappalardo and Deborah Quinn for two seats.

In the Central District, four candidates are running for two seats. Incumbents Philip Lahey Jr. and John Cronin Jr. are seeking re-election, and are being challenged by Fadi Chahine and David Lavallee.

In the East District, incumbent councilors Joseph Leone and Larry Giordano and former councilor Patricia Uliano are running for two seats.

Three at-large council seats are also up for grabs. Incumbents Jennifer Kannan and Stephen Zanni and former councilors Joyce Campagnone and Kathleen Corey Rahme are seeking those seats.

All six incumbent School Committee members — Robert Vogler, George Kazanjian, Kenneth Henrick, Gary Marcoux, Evan Chaisson, Barbara Grondine — are up for re-election on Tuesday. They are being challenged by three-term City Councilor Kenneth Willette Jr. and political newcomer Jeri-an Batal.

In addition, three people are running for Methuen's two seats on the Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational Technical Committee: Erica Max, Raymond Begin and incumbent Thomas Grondine.

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