For over 60 years, this New Hampshire hamlet has cast and counted the first votes in America at midnight

Dixville Notch

Since 1960, six residents in a remote New Hampshire hamlet have made political history every four years. At the stroke of midnight on election day, the entire village of Dixville Notch gathers in what was once The Balsams hotel ballroom to cast their votes.

Within minutes, they become the first Americans to complete in-person voting and announce results.

The tradition started when hotel owner Neil Tillotson got tired of driving 45 minutes to vote and asked the state to make his community its own voting district.

Here’s how this tiny mountain town became America’s unofficial election kickoff, and what you’ll find when you visit Dixville Notch today.

Neil Tillotson Establishes The Tradition

Neil Tillotson bought The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel when he moved to Dixville Notch in 1954. He made his money inventing latex balloons and gloves.

Tillotson hated driving 45 minutes to vote, especially in winter when snow covered the mountain roads.

A news reporter told him about midnight voting in other small towns. Tillotson loved the idea.

He asked New Hampshire lawmakers to make Dixville Notch its own voting place. They said yes, allowing the town to run its own elections.

The First Midnight Vote In 1960

Nine voters met in The Balsams’ Ballot Room on November 8, 1960. At exactly midnight, they cast the first votes in that year’s presidential election.

All nine voted for Republican Richard Nixon over Democrat John Kennedy. This marked Dixville Notch’s first vote as its own district.

Neil Tillotson cast the very first ballot that night. Few reporters showed up for this first midnight vote.

No one knew this small event would grow into a famous political tradition lasting over 60 years.

The Midnight Voting Process

New Hampshire law lets polling places close once every registered voter has voted. This rule makes midnight voting work.

Town officials check that all voters are present before midnight. The town moderator makes sure everyone is there.

Polls open at exactly midnight. Voters mark paper ballots in private booths and put them in a wooden box.

With so few voters, counting takes minutes. Officials announce results right away, making Dixville Notch the first reported votes in presidential races.

The Ballot Room At The Balsams

The Ballot Room in The Balsams hotel was the main voting spot for decades. Hotel staff set up private voting booths for each person.

Old campaign posters and political items decorated the walls. A large wooden ballot box stood at the front of the room.

News teams set up cameras to film the midnight voting moment.

After a fire damaged the resort in 2011, voting moved to other places. Recent elections happened in the Tillotson House living room while workers fix the old hotel.

Neil Tillotson’s Four Decades Of First Votes

Neil Tillotson always cast the first vote in every Dixville Notch election from 1960 to 2001. This became his special role.

His voting ritual was simple but powerful. Tillotson stood by the ballot box watching his watch. At exactly midnight, he dropped in his ballot.

Other voters followed right after him. He kept this tradition through eleven presidential elections.

After he died in 2001 at age 102, the town began picking the first voter by random drawing before each election.

Media Attention Grows

News coverage of Dixville Notch grew quickly after the first election. By 1964, major news services reported the results across the country.

In the 1970s, newspaper reporters traveled to this remote spot. TV crews arrived in the 1980s, showing the vote live.

The small town became a big media event every four years. News teams from other countries joined American reporters to see this unusual tradition.

News groups liked showing the first results and the sight of people voting at midnight.

Presidential Candidates Visit Dixville Notch

Many presidential hopefuls visited Dixville Notch to get publicity. They knew the tiny town got big attention.

Ronald Reagan came during his 1976 campaign, one of the first major candidates to stop by. Both George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush visited during their runs for president.

John McCain became friends with Neil Tillotson after several visits. Wesley Clark even watched the 2004 midnight vote in person.

These visits rarely changed national results, but candidates liked the media coverage and connection to New Hampshire tradition.

Notable Voting Results Through History

Only two candidates ever got every vote in Dixville Notch’s general elections. Richard Nixon won unanimously in 1960 with nine votes. Joe Biden did the same in 2020 with five votes.

From 1968 to 2012, the town correctly picked the Republican nominee every time. The person who got the most votes in Dixville Notch became the Republican candidate.

In 2012, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tied with five votes each. This was the first tie in town history.

In 2024, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump tied with three votes each, only the second tie ever.

Challenges To The Tradition

As people moved away, Dixville Notch’s voting tradition faced trouble. When The Balsams Resort closed in 2011, most residents left.

By 2019, fewer than five people lived there. State law requires at least five residents to hold an election.

Developer Les Otten, working to reopen The Balsams, moved to Dixville Notch. This saved the tradition by adding one more resident.

State officials also found some voters owned property in town but actually lived elsewhere. This raised questions about who could legally vote there.

Other Midnight Voting Communities

Dixville Notch wasn’t the first place to vote at midnight. Hart’s Location, another small New Hampshire town, started early morning voting in 1948 for railroad workers with odd schedules.

Hart’s Location moved to midnight voting in 1952, eight years before Dixville Notch. They stopped from 1964 to 1996 because too many reporters came.

Millsfield, a town near Dixville Notch, claims the first midnight vote in 1936. They started doing it again in recent elections.

Several towns have midnight voting, but Dixville Notch became the most famous through steady practice and media attention.

Visiting Dixville Notch (New Hampshire)

You’ll find Dixville Notch on Route 26 in Coös County, northern New Hampshire. The area offers year-round outdoor activities like hiking the Dixville Notch State Park trails and photographing the dramatic mountain pass.

No formal tours exist, but you can see the Tillotson House where recent midnight voting took place. The Balsams Grand Resort remains closed for renovation as of 2025.

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