Dixville Notch, New Hampshire

Dixville Notch, New Hampshire
The Balsams, a resort hotel in Dixville Notch and the site of the famous "midnight vote"

Dixville Notch is an unincorporated village, with a population of approximately 75, in the Dixville township of Coos County, New Hampshire, USA. The town is known for being one of the first places to declare its results during United States presidential elections and the New Hampshire primary.[1] It is located in the far north of the state, approximately 20 miles (32 km) from Canada.

The village is named for the mountain pass (or "notch," in White Mountains terminology) about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southeast of and 100 feet (30 m) uphill from it, that lies between Dixville Peak and Sanguinary Mountain, and separates the Connecticut River's watershed from that of the Androscoggin. The village, situated at about 1,800 feet (550 m) above sea level at the base of dramatic mountains, is the location of The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel; one of a handful of surviving New Hampshire grand hotels, it is situated on a 15,000-acre (61 km2) plot, accommodating golfing in the summer and skiing in the winter.

Dixville Notch is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents

Midnight voting tradition

Elections in New Hampshire
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Dixville Notch is best known in connection with its longstanding middle-of-the-night vote in the U.S. presidential election, including during the New Hampshire primary (the first primary election in the U.S. presidential nomination process). In a tradition that started in the 1960 election, all the eligible voters in Dixville Notch gather at midnight in the ballroom of The Balsams. The voters cast their ballots and the polls officially are closed one minute later. The result of the Dixville Notch vote in both the New Hampshire primary and the general election are traditionally broadcast around the country immediately afterwards.

A similar tradition in the community of Hart's Location, New Hampshire began in 1948; theirs was discontinued in the 1960s in light of the abundance of media attention, and revived only in 1996. Informal competition for the distinction of the first town to report election results has been ongoing for several election cycles, among a number of small communities, including:

Press accounts occasionally state, without qualification, that Dixville Notch "votes first". The village's authentic electoral distinctions include the following:

  • Longest continuous record of midnight voting
  • Highest count of midnight presidential primaries (13 as of 2008, vs. 5 to 9 for Hart's Location)
  • At least one of the first handful of lawful votes (nationwide) in each presidential campaign's binding primaries
  • Often first to report its returns

Dixville Notch was granted the authority to conduct its own elections in 1960 and chose to open its polls at midnight. In 1964, the primary election returns were the first in New Hampshire to be reported by UPI and the Associated Press. Since then, Dixville Notch has gained international media attention as the first community to vote in the presidential primary season (since New Hampshire's primary is required by state law to be scheduled earlier than any competitor). Dixville Notch also votes at midnight in the general presidential election in November, although this usually attracts less press attention than primary voting.

Although most New Hampshire polling stations open around sunrise and close in the early evening, Dixville Notch takes advantage of a state law that allows a precinct to close if all registered voters in that precinct have cast ballots. Consequently, all registered voters in Dixville Notch gather and are counted before the balloting takes place. The "Ballot Room" of the Balsams Hotel resort serves as the polling place; this room features separate voting booths for each citizen. The town residents also vote each cycle at a town meeting whether or not they will continue the tradition.

The tradition was first organized by prominent Dixville Notch resident Neil Tillotson (1898 - 17 October 2001), who was traditionally the first voter; he would reportedly hold his ballot over the ballot box while watching his wristwatch. At the moment of midnight, Tillotson would drop the ballot into the ballot box and the rest of the town's residents would follow suit. Since Tillotson's death from pneumonia in 2001 at the age of 102, the first voter has been chosen by random ballot beforehand.

In the presidential election of November 2, 2004, the village had 26 registered voters, roughly half of whom were registered Republican; the other half were registered "undeclared", i.e., unaffiliated with a party. New Hampshire law, though, allows a voter to declare or change a party affiliation upon arriving at the polling place, so a number of independent voters vote in the Democratic party primary.

The votes are counted immediately after all are received; the Dixville Notch results of the primary (and now the Hart's Location ones as well) often lead morning news programs on election day. During every election year since 1968, the candidate with the plurality of Dixville Notch's voters has been the eventual Republican nominee for president. On the Democratic side, however, the village's election results have less often predicted the nominee. In 2000, for example, Bill Bradley won the most votes among Dixville Notch's Democratic primary voters although Al Gore was the party's eventual nominee.

In 1992, the Libertarian Party unsuccessfully attempted to capitalize upon Andre Marrou's unexpectedly strong showing in Dixville Notch in the general election. In 2004, Democratic candidate Wesley Clark was the only contender to personally visit Dixville Notch; he was on hand when the votes were cast and counted, and he received the majority of Democratic votes cast. (Clark placed third and received only 13 percent of votes statewide.)

The community's voting tradition received a nod in the 2002 third season episode of US television program The West Wing, in an episode entitled "Hartsfield's Landing", named after a town clearly modeled on either Dixville Notch, or its companion, Hart's Location.

In 2008, Senator Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win the community's vote in a presidential election since 1968, by a margin of 15 to 6.[2]

Federal election results

The eventual nationwide winners for each contest are indicated in bold.

1960

General Election: (9 voters)

1964

Republican Primary: (9 voters)

General Election: (9 voters)

1968

Democratic Primary: (1 voter)

Republican Primary: (6 voters)

General Election: (12 voters)

1972

Democratic Primary: (6 voters)

Republican Primary: (11 voters)

General Election: (19 voters)

1976

Democratic Primary: (6 voters)

Republican Primary: (18 voters)

General Election: (25 voters)

1980

Democratic Primary: (6 voters)

Republican Primary: (17 voters)

General Election: (23 voters)

1984

Democratic Primary (6 voters)

Republican Primary (20 voters)

General Election: (30 voters)

1988

Democratic Primary: (7 voters)

Republican Primary: (27 voters)

General Election: (38 voters)

1992

Democratic Primary: (4 voters)

Libertarian Primary: (10 voters)

Republican Primary: (14 voters)

General Election: (27 voters)

1996

Democratic Primary: (12 voters)

Republican Primary: (20 voters)

General Election: (28 voters)

2000

Democratic Primary: (6 voters)

Republican Primary: (23 voters)

General Election: (27 votes)

2004

Democratic Primary: (15 voters)

Republican Primary: (11 voters)

General Election: (26 voters, 9 using absentee ballots)[citation needed]

2008

Democratic Primary: (10 voters)[3]

Republican Primary: (7 voters)[3]

General Election: (21 voters)[4]

President

Governor

U.S. Senator

Representative in Congress (District 2)

  • Paul W. Hodes (D) - 12
  • Jennifer M. Horn (R) - 7
  • Chester L. Lapointe, II (L) - 1

See also

References

  1. ^ Schworm, Peter (2008-01-07). "N.H. towns vie for late-night voter limelight". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/07/nh_towns_vie_for_late_night_voter_limelight/. 
  2. ^ "CNN.com - First town weighs in on election at midnight". 2008-11-03. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/03/dixville.notch/?iref=hpmostpop. Retrieved 2008-11-03. 
  3. ^ a b "McCain, Obama Win First Ballots In Dixville Notch, N.H.". Fox News. 2008-01-08. http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/08/mccain-obama-win-first-ballots-in-dixville-notch-nh/. Retrieved 2008-01-08. 
  4. ^ "Live From The Balsams". 2008-11-04. http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/010754.html#010754. Retrieved 2008-11-04. 

External links

v · d · eMunicipalities and communities of Coös County, New Hampshire
County seat: Lancaster
City
Towns
Townships
Villages

Bretton Woods | Cascade | Dixville Notch | Groveton | Twin Mountain | West Stewartstown

Coordinates: 44°52′15″N 71°18′21″W / 44.87083°N 71.30583°W / 44.87083; -71.30583


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