Bush had 38 votes, Gore 18. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader had 1.

Thirty-one of Hart's Location's 33 voters cast ballots just after midnight, continuing a sporadic tradition that began in 1948.

The Hart's Location vote was Bush 17, Gore 13 and 1 write-in for Jeffrey Peters, a perennial presidential candidate from nearby Jackson.

Fifty miles to the north, all 27 voters in Dixville Notch voted at the same time at the Balsam's resort.

The Dixville Notch vote was Bush 21, Gore 5 , Nader 1.

In the gubernatorial vote, Republican Gordon Humphrey beat Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen 21-6 in Dixville and 18-12 in Hart's Location.

Dixville gave Republican U.S. Rep. Charles Bass 25 votes and to his Democratic challenger, Barney Brannen, two votes.

In Hart's Location, Republican Rep. John E. Sununu had 19 votes, while his Democratic challenger, Martha Fuller Clark, had 11.

Charles Michael Pearson, a Republican, said that if Bush "wins the country like ... Dixville Notch, he'll have a mandate."

Stephen Barba, one of the nine independents, said, "It's not close here, but I believe it will be close in New Hampshire and across the country."

Neil Tillotson, the 101-year-old owner of the Balsams resort, said he was for John McCain in the New Hampshire Republican primary "but Bush was here for a visit and I spent some time with him and I changed my thinking.

"I hope he's got enough experience. Washington has not been his campground but I guess he did a pretty good job in Texas," Tillotson said.

As for the debates, he said "they were by actors. It was a waste of time."

By state law, polls must be open between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. But nothing prevents a town from opening the polls earlier, and any town may close the polls early if all potential voters have cast ballots.

Hart's Location began doing just that in 1948 because nearly everyone in town worked for the railroad and many had to be at work before normal voting hours. Dixville followed in 1960.

National media attention to these "first votes" began in 1952, when the state let voters in the state's earliest presidential primary vote for the candidates themselves instead of delegates to the national party conventions. The Republican primary made news that year because Gen. Dwight Eisenhower upset party favorite Robert A. Taft.

Small towns including Hart's Location, Millsfield and Waterville Valley soon were competing to cast the nation's first votes.

Dixville didn't get into the act until 1960. But with the Balsams grand hotel and its own telephone company, it soon gained the upper hand.

Hart's Location dropped early voting in 1964, only to revive it 1996. One resident attributed the 1964 decision to some old-timers unhappy because "they couldn't go to the outhouse with someone sitting next to them asking questions."

Dixville's first early vote was in the 1960 general election. Reflecting the state's then-solid Republican leanings, Republican Richard Nixon beat Democrat John Kennedy, 9-0. Kennedy triumphed nationally in one of the closest presidential elections ever.

Republicans still have the edge in both comnunities. Hart's Location has 15 Republicans, 10 independents and seven Democrats. Dixville has 16 Republicans, nine independents and two Democrats.