THE VOTE IN 2000 Combined vote from Dixville Notch and Hart's Location in the New Hampshire presidential primary: REPUBLICANS: John McCain, 19 George W. Bush, 17 Elizabeth Dole, 2 (write-in) Steve Forbes, 1 Jeffrey Peters (write-in, 1 DEMOCRATS: Bill Bradley, 13 Al Gore, 5

DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. -- Voters in two tiny northern New Hampshire towns cast the first votes in the state's earliest presidential primary at midnight Monday, and gave Bill Bradley and John McCain the early lead.

Bradley had 13 votes and Al Gore 5 in the Democratic race. Among the Republicans, McCain had 19 and George W. Bush 17.

In Dixville Notch in the Ballot Room of The Balsams, the vote was Bradley 4 and Gore 2. Bush had 12 and McCain 10. Steve Forbes had 1 and Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes were shut out.

In Hart's Location, at the Notchland Inn, the vote was Bradley 9, Gore 3. McCain had 9 and Bush 5. Elizabeth Dole, who had dropped out of the race, had two write-in votes, and fringe candidate Jeffrey Peters got one write-in vote.

Dixville has 14 registered Republicans, three Democrats and 12 independents.

Hart's Location has 12 Republicans, four Democrats and 12 independents.

State law requires polls to stay open until 7 p.m. unless everyone eligible to vote has done so.

The tradition of having everyone vote at midnight and closing the polls a few minutes later began in Hart's Location in 1948, when nearly everyone worked for the railroad and had to be at work before the polls opened. After letting the tradition languish there, Hart's Location revived it in 1996.

Dixville Notch began voting early in the early 1960s.

Both towns get a lot of attention from reporters and others. But neither is known for foreshadowing the winners statewide.

For example, in 1996, Lamar Alexander won the Republican vote in Hart's Location, and Bob Dole won in Dixville Notch. Pat Buchanan won statewide.

But Stephen Barba, president of The Balsams, said, "It really has never mattered how we voted; what matters is that we vote."

While the hours before midnight are as likely to be spent swapping coffee cake recipes as kibitzing about the candidates, residents take the vote seriously.

"The kids often come to the vote simply because the parents involved know that it's a piece of history and a piece of Americana unfolding," said Les Schoof, innkeeper at the Notchland Inn.