Ballots are counted in the US election at midnight in Dixville Notch(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Dixville Notch: Tiny US town where whole population cast their votes at midnight

Dixville Notch has been ensuring they are first to declare in the US presidential elections since 1960 - and this year the result shows just how close the national results could be

by · The Mirror

Voting and counting for the US election is over, and in a shock result Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are equally tied…

At least among the tiny population of Dixville Notch, traditionally the first community in the US to declare its votes.

For decades, in-person voting for presidential elections has started at midnight in the tiny New Hampshire community, in the far northeast of the country.

And at midnight today, the town’s six registered voters turned up to cast their ballots, with three for Harris and three for Trump.

Harris and Trump tie 3 to 3 as the residents of Dixville Notch cast their ballots in the US election( Image: AFP via Getty Images)

It sets the scene for one of the closest-run presidential elections ever, with both candidates neck-and-neck.

Just 20 miles from the Canadian border, Dixville Notch in Coos County is a ski resort named after a nearby mountain pass. But on Election Day, all eyes are on the remote mountain town - at least for the three minutes it takes for everyone to vote and the result announced.

The tradition of voting at midnight for the state’s political party primaries and general elections began in the 1960 election. It is believed to have started to accommodate rail workers who could not cast their ballots during normal voting hours.

The town moderator shows that the ballot box is empty before the residents of Dixville Notch cast their ballots in the US election( Image: AFP via Getty Images)

For decades reporters descended on the town’s The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel for the midnight vote, searching for early signals as to how the national poll might look. Since the hotel closed, the vote has been held in other locations. This year's ballots were cast in the living room of the resort's Tillotson House - after the national anthem was played on an accordion.

But what happens in Dixville Notch isn’t always reflected nationwide. In January, all six registered voters cast their ballots for Republican Nikki Haley, in a clean sweep over former president Donald Trump and the other candidates.

However, Trump went on to win the state, taking control of the Republican race. In 2016, four of the town’s seven voters selected then Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who despite winning the popular vote sending up losing to Trump, who got more Electoral College votes.

But in the 2020 presidential election, all five votes went to Democrat Joe Biden, who went on to beat Trump for the White House.