World News – US – Tradition: 2 New Hampshire towns vote after midnight

DIXVILLE NOTCH, NH (AP) – Two small communities in New Hampshire who vote for president just after the stroke of midnight on election day have voted, one of them marking the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the tradition

The results at Dixville Notch, near the Canadian border, were a sweep for former Vice President Joe Biden who won the city’s five votes At Millsfield, 12 miles south, President Donald Trump won 16 votes against Biden’s five

Normally there would be a large spread of food and a lot of media crammed into a small space to watch the vote, said Tom Tillotson, moderator for the town of Dixville Notch last week. But this is no longer possible due to the coronavirus pandemic It is also difficult to observe the 60th anniversary of the tradition, which began in November 1960

A third community voting at midnight, Hart’s Location, has suspended the tradition this election due to coronavirus concerns It decided to hold the vote from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday The town of the White Mountains began early voting in 1948 to welcome railway workers who had to be at work before normal voting hours He finally stopped in 1964 and brought it back in 1996

Communities also vote just after midnight for New Hampshire’s first presidential primary, which took place on February 11 It hardly happened this year in Dixville Notch, when one person moved out, leaving all four remaining residents at a level below the minimum necessary to assume various electoral responsibilities This was resolved when a developer working on renovations to the now closed Balsams complex where the voting tradition began moved in

For years, the vote took place in a wood-paneled hall filled with political memorabilia at the Balsams, which closed in 2011 Some of these items were taken to a former culinary school on the property, as part of the vote Tuesday

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