Amid Election Scrutiny, Dixville Notch’s Midnight Voting Tradition Could Be At Risk
Dixville Notch, NH. Photo by Chris Jensen for NHPR
Once every four years, for a brief moment, it seems the whole world turns its eyes to Dixville Notch.
Since 1960, voters in this tiny Coos County community have been casting their ballots just after the stroke of midnight to mark the official start of the New Hampshire presidential primary.
But Dixville Notch has lately found itself under a different kind of spotlight: from the New Hampshire attorney general’s office. Shortly after the 2016 election, state election investigators started scrutinizing Dixville Notch’s voter checklist and, along the way, found a pattern of potential problems with its election procedures.