Voters in most precincts will cast ballots in five or six state primary and county general election races in the Aug. 7 election, according to sample ballots available last week on the Hamilton County Election Commission’s Web site.

But there should be one more, and election officials are going back to the printers to add a race left off the ballot: The U.S. Senate primary for the seat of Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

“It’s a sad situation that happened,” said Elections Administrator Bud Knowles, who said new ballots should be in by Thursday or Friday.

Chief Deputy Elections Administrator Charlotte Mullis said 140,000 ballots already had been printed without the U.S. Senate race.

Ms. Mullis said she did not know if the Election Commission will have to repay the full cost for the reprinting. The ballots cost 17 to 18 cents each, Mr. Knowles said.

Ballots for the Feb. 5 primary cost $33,985, according to a Hamilton County Commission resolution.

Mr. Knowles said state officials had approved the ballot as originally printed.

Brook Thompson, state elections coordinator, said he is simply glad the error was caught in time for the correct ballots to be used in the election.

“It was an oversight on their part and an oversight on our part,” he said.

Sen. Alexander has no opponent on the GOP side. But in the Democratic primary, former Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Bob Tuke, former Knox County Clerk Mike Padgett, real estate investor Kenneth Eaton, truck driver Lenny Ladner, insurance agent Mark Clayton and Gary G. Davis are competing, according to the Tennessee Division of Elections.

MODEST TURNOUT EXPECTED

Hamilton County residents planning to vote in the Aug. 7 election must register by Tuesday.

Officials expect a modest showing of voters for the election, for which early voting begins July 18 and ends Aug. 2.

“I expect a small turnout,” said Mr. Knowles.

The biggest draw on the Aug. 7 ballot likely will be the Hamilton County sheriff’s race, he said.

Democrat Greg Beck, Republican Jim Hammond and independent candidates Jim Winters and Tim Akins will be on the ballot in the sheriff’s race. Hamilton County Chief Ranger Fred Fuson is running as a write-in candidate.

The sheriff’s seat came open when former Sheriff Billy Long, who pleaded guilty to federal gun, drug, extortion and money laundering charges, resigned in February. The new sheriff will serve the rest of Mr. Long’s term, which ends in 2010.

Races in Hamilton County Board of Education Districts 1, 2, 4 and 7 also will be on the ballot. All but the District 1 race is contested.

Bob Swansbrough, a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said he does not believe fervor for the Nov. 4 presidential election will carry over into the August contests in a notable way.

“There may be some benefit from the registration drives,” he said.

Dr. Swansbrough said the lack of a strongly contested primary in the U.S. House race likely will mean a small turnout for that vote.

Chattanooga resident Doug Vandagriff is the only Democrat seeking the party’s nomination. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., faces a primary challenge from Teresa Sheppard, of Luttrell, Tenn., according to the Elections Division.

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