Early New Hampshire voters at Dixville Notch resort always make history

There’s early voting and then there’s really early voting.

The handful of residents in the New Hampshire burgs of Dixville Notch (21 voters) and Hart’s Location (29 voters) who voted around 12:01 Tuesday morning took pride in casting the first presidential ballots in the nation. It has been a tradition since 1948. (Obama won in this non-representative sample.)

Staff writer Christopher Reynolds visited the grand hotel where the polling takes place during primary season, when Obama and McCain both emerged as winners:

“In Dixville Notch, high in the hinterlands of New Hampshire, the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel has since 1960 been among the first precinct to report returns in that state’s closely watched primary elections,” Reynolds writes.

“Why? Because it’s where voters — this year, there were just 17 of them — gather in the ballroom to cast their ballots at midnight. Should you find your way to the Balsams, a grand old place that goes back to the 1860s, the hotel staffers will show you its polling room and various historical bric-a-brac.”

Click here to check out the full story on presidential candidates and the hotels where they made history.

— Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photo: First voter, Tanner Tillotson, third from left, of Dixville Notch, waits to cast his ballot at the nation's presidential election in Dixville Notch, N.H. on Tuesday. Cheryl Senter/Associated Press]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 12:01 pm by Mary Forgione and is filed under East Coast, Fall, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.