Donald Trump
A trio of small towns in a remote corner of New Hampshire cast the first Election Day ballots for United States president early Tuesday, with Donald Trump beating Hillary Clinton 32 to 25 in the overall count.
The three communities’ small handful of residents voted at the stroke of midnight, in a quadrennial election ritual that goes back to the first half of the 20th century.
Members of the media far outnumbered the eight eligible voters in Dixville Notch, nestled in New Hampshire’s Great North Woods about 30 kilometres from Canada.
Clinton, the Democratic Party’s nominee, beat Republican Trump four votes to two in Dixville Notch.
She also scored a 17 to 14 victory in Hart’s Location, a town with a population of about 40 people. But the real estate mogul trounced Clinton 16 votes to four in Millsfield, a few kilometers south of Dixville Notch.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that it was the first time the community had held such a vote in decades. The electoral law in the New England state allows communities of fewer than 100 people to open their polls at midnight, in what’s become a proud tradition for their residents.
The event garners headlines and curiosity each election cycle, even if it isn’t considered predictive of how residents of the rest of the small north-eastern state will vote during the daytime hours. New Hampshire has four Electoral College votes and is described as a toss-up state this election, with Trump and Clinton seen as running neck-and-neck.
