Why does the town of Dixville Notch host its primary voting at midnight? Tradition explored as Nikki Haley sweeps 6 votes in NH

The town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, is betting it all on Nikki Haley. Right after Donald Trump's big win at the Iowa caucuses, all eyes were on the state as Republican voters in the state headed out to vote on Tuesday, January 23, who the Republican party's 2024 presidential nominee would be. With everyone else bowing out, only two candidates remained, Trump and Haley.

The town of Dixville Notch in the state's North Country continued its age-old tradition of voting at midnight, and this time, all six of its votes were for Nikki Haley. The tradition was adopted from another township, named Hart's Location, that did it to accommodate voting times for rail workers with irregular schedules. the tradition was brought to Dixville by former town moderator, Neil Tillotson.

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Dixville Notch and its midnight voting process

Unlike every other town in New Hampshire, Dixville Notch is special for hosting its primaries at Midnight and revealing its results before the rest of the voting precincts. This tradition plunges the town into national headlines on the day of every New Hampshire presidential primary.

According to the Associated Press, Dixville was, however, not the first town to start the midnight voting tradition. The town of Hart's Location started voting early back in 1948 to allow for rail workers with irregular schedules to take part in the process. Dixville was introduced to the tradition by former town moderator Neil Tillotson.

A CBS News report detailed that it all started in 1954 when Neil Tillotson bought a local Dixville hotel and moved to the town. Unfortunately, the man had a difficult and snowy 45-minute drive to cast a vote at the nearest polling precinct. An Associated Press reporter informed him about Hart's Location and early voting practice, which was the answer to all his problems.

Neil and other residents of the town pressured the New Hampshire legislation to recognize Dixville Notch, which was back then just an unincorporated township, as an independent voting precinct, which was made official in 1960. This was the year the town held its first midnight vote with Neil Tillotson as the town moderator.

The tradition has carried on encompassing a plethora of primaries, and Neil passed the torch of town moderator to his son, Tom Tillotson, who has held that position since 1976. The vote being held at the hotel Tom's father bought, the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, also increased media attention to the town's voting process due to its grand infrastructure. Tom was quoted by CBS News as saying:

"We get our 15 minutes of fame every four years."

Dixville Notch also announces its voting results way before any other precinct in the state. State law declares that a polling place can shut down once every registered voter has cast their votes, and it is to be administered by five voters serving as election workers. This guarantees the town the ability to announce their results before everybody else.

Nikki Haley thanked the township (Image via X/@NikkiHaley)

This year, the six registered voters in the township, four republican voters and two independents, all cast their votes for Nikki Haley. She thanked the town for the small yet important victory with a tweet. The overall results for the New Hampshire primaries are to be expected by Tuesday night, when most votes will be counted.