Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have tied with three votes each in the tiny New Hampshire township of Dixville Notch, kicking off Election Day in one of the first places in the country to report its presidential preference.
The unincorporated township, located along the US-Canada border in New Hampshire’s northern tip, opened and closed its poll just after midnight ET in a tradition that dates back to 1960. Four Republicans and two undeclared voters participated.
While Dixville Notch isn’t always predictive of the eventual winner or even the state’s pick – its annual production, despite a dwindling population, is a success story for local leaders and a reason to smile for political junkies eager for an early taste of the day’s events.
By tradition, all eligible voters gather at the now-dormant Balsams Hotel in Dixville Notch to cast their secret ballots once polls open at midnight.
Once every ballot is cast, votes are tallied and results announced hours before anywhere else, making it a destination for national reporters, who often outnumber the voters.
Les Otten, one of the township’s voters and the lead developer for the Balsams, called the early release of the results “a civics lesson for the country,” adding that “if we can help people get out and understand that voting is an important part of their right as an American citizen, that’s perhaps the key to what we’re doing.”
Otten said he expects to break ground on the redevelopment project next summer. In the meantime, he said, “as long as we’re here and we’re property owners and we have, you know, our toothbrush in our bathrooms, we might as well exercise our right to vote.”
Nearby Millsfield and Hart’s Location, which is tucked in the White Mountains, first offered midnight voting before Dixville Notch but haven’t participated continuously and aren’t conducting it this year.
A fictionalized version of the three neighbors was featured in an episode of Aaron Sorkin’s “West Wing” dubbed “Hartsfield’s Landing.”
Dixville Notch voters have supported the Democratic nominee the last two presidential elections, with the township in 2020 unanimously casting five votes for President Joe Biden and with Hillary Clinton in 2016 winning four of seven votes — two went to Trump and one to Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
