MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — The first votes of the New Hampshire primary and the top Democratic vote-getter isn’t even competing in the contest.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg won Dixville Notch’s midnight tally as a write-in candidate with three votes, including one from a Republican.
The other two voters in the tiny outpost, about 20 miles south of the Canadian border, split their support between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 78, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38.
Just 10 minutes into the New Hampshire primary, Dixville Notch closed its polls and counted the votes.
1st – @MikeBloomberg (2 votes)
2nd- Tied between @PeteButtigieg and @BernieSanders (1 vote each)
Bloomberg also won the sole GOP vote. pic.twitter.com/uFJUpBkLcN
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 11, 2020
Dixville Notch, along with Hart’s Location and Millsfield in New Hampshire’s North Country, traditionally vote at the stroke of midnight. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, 59, won both Hart’s Location and Millsfield with six votes and two votes, respectively.
Dixville Notch was at risk of losing its six-decadeslong tradition of coming together to cast their paper ballots in a wooden box because its population teetered close to not having enough residents to staff a polling place legally. There were four people living in the hamlet, but the law requires at least five residents.
The tradition was salvaged when Les Otten, a real estate developer who owns several properties in the region, including a $186 million project, changed his residence from Maine to Dixville Notch last December.
Dixville Notch has previously come under scrutiny for both operating a polling station with too few residents and allowing people to vote who weren’t residents.
