CORRECTION APPENDED

Cambridge voters head to the polls today to select the newest roster of local government officials, but if trends continue, fewer than a third of the city’s registered voters will cast a ballot.

In today’s elections, voters will pick nine new city councillors and the six new members of the School Committee from a total of 24 candidates.

The race is one of the most open in years, with two popular veteran councillors and one School Committee member retiring.

But despite the opportunity for turnover, political analysts predict that voter turnout will remain extremely low.

“My gut feeling, having just seen the minimum amount of campaigning, the minimum amount of interest, [is] that we may see a lower number than last time,” said Robert Winters, who runs a local political blog.

A record low of 29 percent of registered voters participated in the 2005 election. The last time voter participation topped 50 percent was in 1991.

Political analysts attributed the decline to the city’s gentrification by new residents who are less attached to the area.

Since a Massachusetts referendum abolished rent control in 1994, property values in Cambridge have skyrocketed. Some say that the influx of affluent residents who are not originally from Cambridge has resulted in a electorate that is more distant from city government.

“If my partner and I are both rising young scientists working 60 hours a week in Kendall Square, all I want from local government is for my street to be clean,” said David E. Luberoff, the director of the Kennedy School’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. “There’s no connection to local politics.”

But incumbent Councillors David P. Maher and Brian P. Murphy ’86-’87 said the sparse voter turnout numbers reflect general voter satisfaction.

“My own feeling is that things are going pretty well in Cambridge right now,” Maher said. “It usually takes something to really rile people up.”

The candidates in today’s election are overwhelmingly Democratic. Most are longtime veterans of local government and take similar policy positions.

Samuel W. K. Bonsey ’10, who grew up in Cambridge and will vote today, said he thought the lack of real political differences contributed to voter apathy.

“My view is that it doesn’t really matter who’s on the council,” he said.

Benjamin R. Eisler ’08 is trying to increase voter turnout by hosting a half-hour television program on Channel 9 on Tuesday nights. In addition to the show, “Inside City Council,” which has run since September, Eisler hosted a television debate among 12 of the candidates. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

But some Cambridge residents said that because of the sharp divide between student and city interests, a lack of student participation is actually a good thing.

“They should keep their nose out of it,” Juliana N. Sykley said, “They could vote in anything, and we have to live with it.”

CORRECTION: The Nov. 6 news article "Cambridge Takes to the Polls" gave the wrong name for a television show meant to increase turnout in Cambridge elections. It is "Inside City Hall," not "Inside City Council."