Nebraska’s elections chief says voter turnout is expected to rival that of the 2008 election.

Secretary of State John Gale expects 71 percent of registered voters in Nebraska to cast a ballot by Tuesday.

That compares to just over 71 percent turnout in 2008 and 68 percent turnout in 2004.

The presidential election pitting President Barack Obama against Republican candidate Mitt Romney is generating a lot of voter interest in this year’s race. But Gale says other races, such as the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Bob Kerrey and Republican Deb Fischer, also are spurring interest.

Statewide, Republicans have a large advantage with more than 558,000 registered voters. Democrats have more than 374,000, and there are nearly 232,000 independent and third-party voters in the state.