The first presidential election results are in - and it's a tie.
President Barack Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, each received five votes in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.
The town in the state's northeast corner has opened its polls shortly after midnight each election day since 1960 - but today's tie was the first in its history.
Explainer: What if there's a national tie?
The result was unexpected, said town clerk Dick Erwin. The town has two registered Democrats, three Republicans and five independents.
"Considering the way things are polling around the country, we may have been the first tie of the day," said town clerk Dick Erwin, noting the national polls showing a virtual dead heat in the race. "Keep your eyes on the news reports, because it's going to be a wild ride."
The town, home to about a dozen residents, has drawn national media attention for being the first place in the country to make its presidential preferences known.
Unlike some parts of the country, election officials never have to worry about lack of interest. Â Dixville Notch has had 100% voter turnout since it started its first-in-the-nation voting tradition.
Under New Hampshire voting law, a poling place can be closed once all registered voters have officially cast their ballots. Â With all 10 registered voters on hand, the community had its tally shortly after midnight.
However, since 1996, another small New Hampshire town - Hart's Location - reinstated its practice from the 1940s and also began opening its polls at midnight.
The result there? Obama 23; Romney 9
The result in Dixville Notch is hardly a reliable bellwether for the eventual winner of the White House - or even the result statewide.
Although the community typically leans Republican, residents went for Obama in 2008 - the first time the majority of folks in Dixville Notch went for a Democrat in 40 years.
Be sure to visit these and other Election Day interactive features from CNN.com:
See your ballot before you vote
Issues: Where the candidates stand
How much campaign money has been raised and spent in your state
Share your voting story and photos with CNN iReport
The CNN Facebook I'm Voting App
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Post by: CNN's Ed Payne, CNN's Vivian Kuo Filed under: 2012 Election • Barack Obama • Politics • U.S. |
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Dow Futures are up today, Built on the election of a Consistent, Moderate President.
President Obama 2012 !
Please get out to Vote !
Help someone else get out to vote !
Offer your neighbor a ride,
give a acquaintance a water bottle in line, and
just be encouraging and positive.
So it's actually "A tie for Obama and Romney in whatever results have them tied." I'm looking forward to the headline from later tonight, "Obama and Romney tied at 211 electoral votes if you leave out some of the states."
Did someone knock you senseless recently?
Today is the day that Romney takes out the garbage.
Well he wouldnt do it, he would have his nanny do it, then fire her......
Does he have an illegal to do that or is that just the rest of the GOP?
Amen to that... I'm tired of this racist President telling keeping me down. I don't need hand outs, I need ways out. Romney/Ryan 2012! Obama is doing nothing but keeping us down.
I enjoy how, while covering the first town to vote in the nation, they needed to include another town that voted for Obama since the election results in what is normally a Democratic lock was a tie.
@Chris B: Can you even read? That town voted Republican for 40 years before '08. Hard to call it "normally a Democratic lock"... moron
The first time they went for a democrat in 40 years was 2008, and you call that "normally a democrat lock". Again, conservative willful blindness and lack of reading comprehension on display...
People keep voting the way they are and the news agencies will keep making the news,not reporting it as it happens.Make this country a country of poor people and see how that works.
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@edgyone
"The first time they went for a democrat in 40 years was 2008, and you call that "normally a democrat lock". Again, conservative willful blindness and lack of reading comprehension on display..."
Ever hear of the fallacy of hasty generalization? Simply because one conservative was careless, that doesn't mean they should all be lumped in the, "conservative willful blindness and lack of reading comprehension" category. I'm sure I could find many liberals who would fall into the same category (but of course, you'd turn a blind-eye to those situations simply because they are on your side).
@Jesse, they live in the alternative universe that is Fox News-land.
There is no use pointing out what reality is. It just confuses them.
GOP Hate America
I hear you. Its amazing how many people still hate a black person...ARE YOU CALLING ME A RACIST?. I'm a realist a'hole. I see that Obama hasn't done anything positive for this country in the past four years...Give me a legitimate reason to support him again. I wasted my vote on him four years ago...One legitimate reason...Educate me...You can't
Nothing positive? Where do you live? In a hole? Universal healthcare (regardless of how contreversial), saving thousands of jobs in Detroit with the bailout, LARGE amount of new homeowners, Osama Bin Laden being captured successfully, Pulling our troops out of Afghanistan,,,,my goodness..should I go on? Anyone with half of a brain would agree that this man has made GREAT progess, and has taken us out of the complete MESS we were in at the end of GW's presidency. There is still alot to be done, but I am satisfied with the path we are on. Stop listening to your racist friends Rush and Ann. Get out there, do some research, and have an opinion of your own. Idiot.
Hey Really?? Obamacare will bankrupt the country. It's cost has gone from 900 Billilon to 2.7 Trillion There oare 150,000 LESS Auto workers that before the bailout not counting the thousands of jobs lost by closing dealerships. Home ownership is the lowest in 40 years. And you can stop blame Bush for the economic collapse. He had 6 straight years of economic growth until the Dems took control of Congress in 2006. That is when things started down hill. Get your FACTS straight, oopps sorry I forgot you libs don'e use FACTS and Truth, just retoric. Never mind.
@Really? Technically, bin Laden was killed, not captured. I find it hard to align myself with someone who chastises another for negativity, tries to point out positives, says "do some research, and have an opinion of your own" – and then ruins it all by tagging "Idiot" on the end of it all...
You can't be educated because you don't want to be. In order to learn you must be open to hearing points of view that don't support the opinions you already have. You can find an abundance of people who will support your views and I would guess you look to those sources for your news.
The best man should win.
That is right and we do not need news agencies chiming in and putting their personal slant on this election.
As determined by what?
OBAMANOS!!!
Today is an important day! It's a day many have been waiting for a long time. The future depends on it! get out there and get a copy of Halo 4!
Haha... Very funny! I was thinking what a dork you were until the end of your comment.
Romney just had a meeting with his "financial" friends, he told them, "vote for me and I will deregulate"
Too late. Clinton did that in '99 and '00.
JP,
Why is it that you and so many other black people have to call any non-black a "Redneck?" You know nothing about anyone on this board, yet you and so many others think it's perfectly ok to call someone a redneck. I'm not white, but because I want a change in this election, you call me a racist and a redneck, how ignorant are you? Would it be ok if I went around calling you and other blacks "ni**ers?"
Steven – not taking sides, just pointing this out – you admonish JP for not knowing anything about anyone on this board, yet your comments assume JP is black – are you being consistent?
Because the most racist people are in fact black
Why are you assuming that JP is African-American? I'm not, but I live in the South and the rednecks around here are as red as their red states vote. If you see a Confederate flag waving over a town down here, the odds are they could even be handing out KKK literature (yes, I've seen some).
They won't be voting for the Democrats–even if they were led by Jesus himself. (Whom, they refuse to acknowledge, wasn't "white" in the first place.)
White people use the term redneck all the time and he wasn't calling all people rednecks he was referring to people who are rednecks. Why do you assume he is black?
Who cares what these hicks are voting for?
Only people that matter are on Wall St.
Romney 2012.
Your post speaks volumes. Typical Republican. That's why you'll lose... again!
Imagine the outrage if a liberal or Democrat publically idolized a mass murderer like Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people (34 youths between 14 and 17 yrs old) and wounded 242 in Norway in 2011.
There is actually and statically more of a chance a right-wing nut would do the idolizing...
Oh well! You always blame libs on nonsense like this. Where is the proof??
Dixville-Notch, Dixville-Notch – reminds me of Gobbler's Nob on Groundhog Day – another silly cold-state tradition...
D R Peterson,
Why must everyone who votes Republcan be a racist? Are you black? If you are, I am 99% certain you are voting for Obama just like most other blacks in this country. You are voting for him based on the color of his skin, that makes you a racist!
It's not that many Republicans are racist, it's that many racists are Republican.
There's a difference!
99 percent of black people vote for any other Democrats Clinton and Carey and gore heck even Dukakis. we don't vote because the race. we vote Democrat because Republicans seem to not care of poor people. if you are black and even if you are not poor you are not far removed. just because of the history of our country. so we care for the poor. Republican don't
@Steven you claim that blacks are only voting for President Barack Obama because he is black-however, back in the 80s Jesse Jackson ran for president and did not get anywhere near the same votes as Barack. Secondly, Herman Cain also was a presidential candidate, with the same poor results. To imply that we are only voting for him because he is black, would mean that you (presumably white) are voting for Romney because he is white. We have a history of voting democrat, period! There is another people on ballots across this country, besides Barack that we are voting for... that are not black. Please know your history before you open thy mouth incorrectly!
Pretty sad reply, Steven. I was a Republican for many years, here in SC, and unfortunately many of my relatives voted against Obama because he's black. Some of my kin liked his ideas but said that a black should never be elected, because it meant that blacks were better than us. I'm voting different this time. Many Republicans are racist and that is fact.
No it doesn't. If you DIDN'T vote for someone based on the color of their skin, now THAT might be considered racism.