NEW YORK, November 8, /TASS/. The US presidential election got underway on Tuesday with voting in the small town of Dixville Notch in northern New Hampshire.
A spokesman for the local Balsams resort hotel where the voting is held has told TASS that a mere 7 voters are registered in Dixville Notch.
#DixvilleVoted pic.twitter.com/LkEgNnYnl0
— Dixville Vote (@DixvilleVote) 8 ноября 2016 г.
There is only one ballot box at the local polling station - a large wooden box. The spokesman noted that this time there are several points in the ballot paper. According to Tranchemontagne, voters in Dixville Notch are electing the country’s president, the state’s representatives in both houses of the US Congress and the governor of New Hampshire.
"We will be the first to vote as we have been in general elections since 1960," he said. "In 1960 when the first midnight vote occurred Dixville voted unanimously for Richard Nixon - nine - zero - over John F. Kennedy. And obviously John F. Kennedy won the election and became president".
This time Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won the Dixville Notch midnight vote, with four people casting their votes for her. Two others voted for Republican Donald Trump and one for Chairman of the Libertarian Party and former New Mexico Governor, Gary Johnson. Besides, one person voted for Mitt Romney, who is not running in the current presidential race. US law allows citizens to vote for politicians who in reality are not contending for the presidency.
New Hampshire’s Millsfield township, the towns of Hart’s Location, Ellsworth and Waterville Valley are contesting the right to be the first populated locality in the US where the voting process begins.
According to New Hampshire law, communities with less than a hundred voters can open their polls at midnight and close them as soon as all the registered voters have cast their ballots.
The best known of these three towns, Dixville Notch has been voting at midnight every election since 1960. This early voting, however, cannot be considered a "barometer" for the election outcome.
Clinton vs Trump
In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, among candidates on the bulletin are Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, who served two terms as New Mexico Governor. Green Party candidate Jill Stein is put on the bulletin in 45 states.
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According to latest polls, Clinton enjoys 45-47% of support, Trump — 41-43%, Johnson — around 6%, and Stein — around 2%. Bloomberg said that outsider candidates may take Clinton’s votes in such states as New Mexico and Washington, and Trump’s votes in Arizona, Montana, and Colorado, which may considerably affect the outcome of elections.
Politico reported that the number of registered voters has exceeded 200 million people for the first time in US history. According to US Elections Project, 41.1 million people already cast their votes in early voting.