First in the nation

Update: The Dixville Notch results are in! It's Obama! The vote was 15 to 6. See the full story here.

By tradition, Dixville Notch, way up at the tippy-top of New Hampshire, is the first community to cast its ballots on Election Day. The polls (or more properly, poll — there's only one venue, the ballroom of the grand and venerable Balsams Hotel, pictured above) will open in a scant two hours and 15 minutes — at midnight, EST.

According to a Reuters report of the primary election last January, there were 17 registered voters in Dixville Notch. Obama won seven of the 10 Democratic votes; McCain won all seven of the Republican tally. There must have been some cross-over voting, because this is a reliably Republican town you betcha.

You need only check the stats for voting in years past to confirm that. But who knows, with Obama's strong showing in the primary, perhaps things will be different this year. In any event, if tradition is followed, the good citizens will all vote simultaneously, the balloting will close a minute later, and the results will be announced shortly thereafter.