Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said Monday that she expects around 60 percent of Connecticut’s 2,022,000 registered voters to turn out for Tuesday’s general election, which she called one of the most interesting elections in the state’s history.

Bysiewicz said that her office is prepared for the approximate 1.5 million voters expected to go to the polls Tuesday.

“We are ready,” she said. “We have been working of the past couple of weeks and months, actually, to make sure that we have a very smooth election in the state of Connecticut.”

She also said that the high-profile races for governor and the state’s U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Senator Chris Dodd, are expected to contribute to a strong voter turnout.

“All of the anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a strong interest in this election.  Our town clerks around the state are reporting record numbers of absentee ballots that have already been returned. People are taking the candidates and the issues very seriously.”

She also said that voters understand how close many of Tuesday’s elections will be and feel their vote may affect the outcome.

About 83,000 new voters have registered this year, she said. Of those new voters just under 17,000 have registered as Republican, close to 28,000 are Democrats, and 37,000 are unaffiliated, she said.

Of the state’s two million voters, Bysiewicz said that about 418,000 are Republicans, about 750,000 are Democrats, and 841,000 are unaffiliated.

“It’s clear that if you want to win an election you have to get those unaffiliated voters,” she said.

Bysiewicz also took the opportunity to remind voters to bring identification to the polls and remember to look on both sides of the ballot while voting because at least 15 towns are using two-sided ballots this year.

When asked about her future plans, Bysiewicz said that, for the time being, her concern is seeing the election go smoothly.

“I’ve never seen an election quite as lively as this. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be like 2008 and I will not have any recounts.”

Bysiewicz did not seek reelection this year so she could run for governor, which in January turned into short-lived race for attorney general. Just this past week the Supreme Court released its written ruling describing why Bysieiwcz was not qualified to run for an office that required 10 years of active legal practice.