Some call it an off-year election, but the local Republican and Democratic parties are still preparing for an all-out showdown at the polls on Tuesday. 




  There's not much hope among either party for an overall high voter turnout tomorrow. Statewide, predictions stand between 15 and 18%. But both Democratic and Republican leaders in Berks are hoping for a little higher turnout here like, in the lower 20's. If they can get that, both believe they'll see victory for their party. 

>> FICK: If we see bigger numbers, we think we're going to have a good result. 

>> REPORTER: For local Republicans in this election, GOP stands for Getting Over the Past. And the minority party in Berks is hoping to gain ground at the local level. 

>> FICK: Ever since the presidential election, we've sort of been on the same strategy, which is to get our committee slots filled. 

>> REPORTER: Local party chair, Andy Fick, says part of the effort to energize Republicans has come from encouraging them to support their incumbents, especially those in the county courthouse. 

>> FICK: We have the candidates that have been doing the job, that have experience and we're trying to make the point to them that we need to keep those people in office. 

>> HERMAN: I wouldn't say that our incumbents are too old to do the job, but most of those folks...all of these folks are past retirement age. 

>> REPORTER: The head of the local Democratic party says volunteers are treating this year like a major election year. 

>> HERMAN: What we will be looking forward to is winning this election and maintaining our winning momentum from last year into this year...into next year. 

>> REPORTER: And their focus, too, is on the key county races, like coroner, treasure and prothonotary. 

>> HERMAN: What we're looking forward to is improving our position in the courthouse. 

>> REPORTER: Part of the challenge for both parties has been getting voters excited about offices that don't seem like political offices. They say most don't really know what the prothonotary does. That happens to be the primary record keeper for civil court.

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