US Election Day
DIXVILLE NOTCH, United States: In the small hamlet of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, the first official votes of the U.S. Election Day were cast just after midnight on Tuesday, with a surprising result: a tie between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.
Each candidate received three votes in this early ballot count, reflecting the intense and closely contested national race for the White House.
Dixville Notch, a tiny community nestled in the northeastern part of the country, has long been known for its tradition of kicking off Election Day. For decades, the town has opened its polling station at the stroke of midnight, well ahead of the rest of the nation’s polling places.
This practice is possible under New Hampshire’s election laws, which permit municipalities with fewer than 100 residents to open their polls at midnight and close them once all registered voters have cast their ballots.
The tie in Dixville Notch mirrors the tight battle unfolding across the country between Harris and Trump.
Opinion polls leading up to the election had shown the two candidates locked in a virtual dead heat, making this election one of the most closely watched and unpredictable in recent history.
In a unique twist, the voting in Dixville Notch began with the U.S. national anthem, which was performed on an accordion to a crowd of gathered journalists and residents.
The small-scale but symbolic event drew media attention, as it traditionally signals the start of Election Day in the United States.
Dixville Notch has been part of U.S. political lore for decades. In 2020, the community’s voters made headlines when they unanimously cast their ballots for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, marking only the second time in the midnight voting tradition that one presidential hopeful had received all the votes.
The tradition dates back to 1960 and continues to draw attention, even though the number of voters is small.
Interestingly, in January of this year, during New Hampshire’s Republican primary, Dixville Notch handed a surprise victory to GOP contender Nikki Haley.
Haley had won the support of all the town’s voters in the primary, though her campaign later faltered due to former President Trump’s overwhelming lead.
Despite Haley dropping out of the race, the votes cast in Dixville Notch on Tuesday indicate that three residents opted to support other candidates, signaling that Trump may not have universal support even among early Republican voters.
As the rest of the East Coast prepared for polling stations to open around 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. (1100 or 1200 GMT), Dixville Notch’s tie vote highlighted the unpredictable nature of the 2024 election.
The results of this small community’s voting may not have a significant impact on the national outcome, but they serve as a symbolic representation of the tight and contentious race between two of the most prominent political figures in the country.
With millions of voters expected to cast their ballots throughout the day, the nation will be watching closely as the results unfold.
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