By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – It's been a heated primary campaign but now the heat appears to be keeping voters away from the polls.
St. Louis Board of Election officials say voter turn-out in the city is looking much lower than predicted.
That's despite hotly contested races for the Republican's choice for governor and the Democratic nominee for attorney general.
The city's Republican elections director Scott Leiendecker says the heat is to blame.
"That can be the only real conclusion that I can come to why people aren't turning out, that they just don't want to get out in this heat," Leiendecker said. "I mean, when you get out there it really smacks you in the face."
Leiendecker says the city had wanted a 35 percent turn-out, but now they're hoping for numbers in the 20s.
The county elections board also is reporting low turn-out, but Director Dick Bauer says August primaries usually record only a 20-25% turnout.