BOSTON -- The tight presidential race and several high-profile ballot questions will draw a record 3.1 million Massachusetts voters to the polls on Tuesday, Secretary of State William F. Galvin predicted.

A forecast of good weather was also expected to boost turnout.

"I believe tomorrow will be a historic day, not just for the nation, but also for Massachusetts," Galvin said Monday.

Galvin predicted about 77.5 percent of registered voters would turn out. In 1960, when Massachusetts native John F. Kennedy ran for president, a record 92 percent of Bay State voters cast ballots. Kennedy, a Democrat, won Massachusetts and went on to defeat Republican Richard M. Nixon.

But in absolute numbers, the 1960 turnout was lower than this year's prediction.

The highest turnout to date was the 1992 election, in which 2.8 million Bay Staters voted. In that election, Democrat Bill Clinton carried Massachusetts over incumbent Republican President George Bush and Reform Party candidate Ross Perot.

Galvin's turnout predictions were based partly on the unusually high number of absentee ballots taken out this year. Absentee ballots are often used as turnout indicators.

The state now has more than 4 million registered voters, the first time it has topped 4 million, Galvin said last week.