Nikki Haley sweeps 6-person midnight vote in New Hampshire

By Eva McKend and Jack Forrest, CNN

(CNN) — Voters in Dixville Notch have cast the first votes in the New Hampshire primary, with all six voters choosing former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

“A great start to a great day in New Hampshire,” Haley said in a statement reacting to the vote minutes after it was recorded. “Thank you Dixville Notch!”

The tiny town in northern New Hampshire opened and closed its poll just after midnight ET on the morning of the state’s primary. Four registered Republican voters and two independents participated in the vote, in which former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, failed to earn support.

In New Hampshire’s northern tip, Dixville Notch is the first place to declare primary results because voters there cast ballots so early. Its midnight voting tradition dates back to 1960.

While the neighboring cities of Hart’s Location and Millsfield began midnight voting earlier than that, they haven’t participated continuously and aren’t conducting midnight voting this year. A fictionalized version of the three neighbors was featured in an episode of Aaron Sorkin’s “West Wing” dubbed “Hartsfield’s Landing.”

Midnight voting in Dixville Notch has historically been held at the now-dormant Balsams Hotel, which has become a media event over the years.

Recently, with the hotel closed and awaiting redevelopment, there have been questions about whether Dixville Notch would have enough voters, but the tradition has continued.

As its population has dwindled over the years, Dixville Notch’s hold on the mini-contest is a success story for local leaders – and a reason to smile for political junkies eager for an early taste of what’s to come.

In 2020, voters backed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the Democratic primary, but went on to support the eventual winner in the general election, unanimously casting five votes for Joe Biden.

Biden’s name did not appear on the ballot, and no delegates will be awarded because of a dispute between the state and the Democratic National Committee, which moved the first approved primary to South Carolina. Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota appeared on the ballot but did not receive any votes.

According to Town Moderator Tom Tillotson, his father – former Balsams resort owner Neil Tillotson – worked to get Dixville Notch incorporated specifically so the community could vote and residents would not be forced to travel close to an hour away in the snow to participate in elections.

But he cautioned against thinking the midnight results would be too instructive.

“There’s no magic bullet that comes out of here that tells people what to do or what’s going to happen. Sometimes we are right. Sometimes we are wrong,” said Tillotson.

The core takeaway, he said, is that people should not shy away from participating in the democratic process.

“If all these people in the wilderness can get up at midnight and go vote, 100% of the town, maybe we should take voting a little more seriously. If we do anything positive, it’s maybe encourage a few extra people to vote,” Tillotson said.

CNN’s Ethan Cohen, Molly English, Gregory Krieg and Eric Bradner contributed to this report.

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