Harris and Trump meet at midnight voting in Dixville Notch to kick off Election Day

CNN
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Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each received three votes in the tiny New Hampshire community of Dixville Notch, opening Election Day in one of the first places in the country to announce its presidential preference.

The unincorporated community, which sits on the U.S.-Canada border at the northern tip of New Hampshire, opened and closed its election shortly after midnight ET in a tradition that dates back to 1960. Four Republicans and two unregistered voters participated.

While Dixville Notch doesn't always predict the eventual winner — or even the state's election — its annual output despite a shrinking population is a success story for local leaders and a reason to smile for political junkies who want an early taste of the day's events .

Traditionally, all eligible voters gather at the now-defunct Balsams Hotel in Dixville Notch cast their vote secretly as soon as the polls open at midnight. Once every ballot is cast, votes are counted and results are announced – hours before any other location, making it a destination for national reporters, who often outnumber voters.

Les Otten, one of the community's voters and lead developer of the Balsams, called the early release of the results “a civics lesson for the country,” adding: “If we can help people get out and understand that voting is an important vote “Part of her right as an American citizen is perhaps the key to what we do.”

Otten said he expects to break ground on the renovation project next summer. In the meantime, he said, “as long as we're here and we're property owners and we, you know, have our toothbrushes in our bathrooms, we might as well exercise our right to vote.”

Nearby Millsfield and Hart's location, tucked away in the White Mountains, first offered midnight voting before Dixville Notch, but hasn't consistently participated and isn't running it this year. A fictionalized version of the three neighbors was featured in an episode of Aaron Sorkin's West Wing titled “Hartsfield's Landing.”

Dixville Notch voters have supported the Democratic candidate in the last two presidential elections, with the community unanimously casting five votes for President Joe Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton winning four of seven votes in 2016 – two went to Trump and one to the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

In January, four registered Republican voters and two independents participated in the GOP primary, and six cast unanimous votes for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Otten, 75, who said he has been “a Republican since I was seven years old,” told CNN before Tuesday's vote that he would cast his vote for Harris.

“Nowhere in the Pledge of Allegiance does it say anything about pledging allegiance to one person,” Otten said. “And I think at the end of the day, Trump has made it clear that you have to pledge allegiance to him and he alone can fix this, and that is as anti-democratic as I can understand.”

Voters also cast their ballots in the most competitive gubernatorial race in the country between former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Democratic candidate Joyce Craig, the former mayor of Manchester, to succeed outgoing Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.

CNN's Gary Tuchman, Eva McKendEthan Cohen, Molly English, Gregory War And Eric Bradner contributed to this report.