Voting and counting for the United States election is over, and Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are tied — at least among voters in a small township in the north-east of the country.
For decades, in-person voting for US elections has started at midnight in Dixville Notch, near the border with Canada.
The tiny township is located in Coos County, in the north-eastern state of New Hampshire.
It has a population of 13, according to 2022 American Community Survey data. On the morning of 5 November, six registered voters were among the first in the country to cast their ballots in person.
Polls opened in the small town at midnight on Tuesday local time (4pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time or AEDT on Tuesday) — and closed minutes later. The results came in fast: three votes went to Republican candidate Trump and three went to Democratic candidate Harris.
Why does Dixville Notch vote at midnight?
In New Hampshire, the communities of Dixville Notch, Hart’s Location and Millsfield have been voting at midnight in the state’s political party primaries and general elections for decades.
The tradition is said to have started to accommodate rail workers who could not cast their ballots during normal voting hours, according to the Associated Press.
It dates back to 1948 in Hart’s Location, and has taken place in Dixville Notch since the 1960 presidential election.
At the time, the town’s moderator, Neil Tillotson, is said to have moved to town where he bought a hotel, renamed The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel. After hearing about midnight voting from a news reporter, he started the process to bring it to Dixville Notch — and the tradition stuck.
In the years since, reporters have descended on The Balsams for the midnight vote, which can take just minutes, searching for early signals as to how the state might fall.
Dixville Notch town moderator Tom Tillotson votes in the US primaries just after midnight on 23 January 2024. Source: Getty / Scott Eisen
When the resort was closed, voting continued in different locations. This year’s general election was held in the living room of the resort’s Tillotson House.
Dixville Notch is the only town holding midnight voting this year, according to local reports.
It was also the only community in New Hampshire to vote at midnight in , held in January.
How has Dixville Notch voted in the past?
In January, all six registered voters cast their ballots for Republican Nikki Haley, in a clean sweep over former president Donald Trump and the other candidates. However, Trump went on to win the state, taking control of the Republican race.
In the 2020 presidential election, all five votes went to Democrat Joe Biden. In nearby Millsfied, Trump won 16 votes to Biden’s five.
The last time the community’s voters were in agreement was in 1960, its first year of midnight voting, when all nine selected Republican Richard Nixon over Democrat John F. Kennedy, according to the Washington Post.
In 2016, four of the township’s seven voters selected then Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote, despite losing to Trump, who took out more .
The votes are tallied during midnight voting as part of the first ballots cast in the 2020 US presidential election in Dixville Notch. Source: Getty / Joseph Prezioso/AFP
What could it mean for the 2024 race?
Watching election results in Dixville Notch has become somewhat of a spectacle, peaking interest among pundits about what the early results could mean for the state — and the outcome of the presidential race.
But with a declining population and COVID-19 disruptions in the state, the tradition has slowed.
How it plays out in 2024 remains to be seen.
