http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/dixville.notch/index.html DIXVILLE NOTCH, New Hampshire (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama emerged victorious in the first election returns of the 2008 presidential race, winning 15 of 21 votes cast in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. Tanner Tillotson, front center, of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, wins the honor of first voter. 1 of 2 People in the village in New Hampshire's northeast corner voted just after midnight Tuesday. It was the first time since 1968 that the village leaned Democratic in an election. Obama's rival, Republican John McCain, won 6 votes. A full 100 percent of registered voters in the village cast ballots. And the votes didn't take long to tally. The town, home to around 75 residents, has opened its polls shortly after midnight each Election Day since 1960, drawing national media attention for being the first place in the country to make its presidential preferences known. However, since 1996, another small New Hampshire town -- Hart's Location -- reinstated its practice from the 1940s and also began opening its polls at midnight. While New Hampshire is a perennial swing state, with 4 Electoral College votes at stake, Dixville Notch consistently leans Republican. The last Democrat it picked was Hubert Humphrey over Richard Nixon in 1968. President Bush won the town in a landslide in the past two elections: He captured 73 percent of the vote in 2004 (19 residents picked Bush while six preferred Sen. John Kerry), and secured 80 percent of the vote in 2000 (21 votes for Bush, five votes for Al Gore.) Watch the results being posted in Dixville Notch » But villagers expected the results to be close this year given Democrats now outnumber Republicans there. The town picked both John McCain and Barack Obama for the New Hampshire Democratic and Republican primaries in January. McCain ultimately won the state of New Hampshire, while Sen. Hillary Clinton upset Obama there.
I remember the first year I watched the returns come in. Some poodunk town in NH (maybe this one) had the first results, and showed strong support for Libertarians! Suddenly I was hoping for double digits, maybe even 25% for the party of liberty. Boy, was I disappointed. AIR (and it's been four years), the networks don't "call" states until after 10 EST at the earliest.
How Dixville Notch, NH voted in past elections: 2008: Obama: 15 McCain: 6 2004: Bush 19 Kerry 7 2000: Bush 21 Gore 5 Nader 1 1996: Dole 18 Clinton 8 Perot 1 Browne 1 1992: Bush 15 Perot 8 Marrou 5 Clinton 2 1988: Bush 34 Dukakis 3
According to Donna Kaye Erwin, the supervisor of the voter checklist, Dixville Notch has five registered Democrats, four Republicans and 11 undeclared voters. It looks like the independents broke overwhelmingly for Obama.