This story was originally produced by the Conway Daily Sun. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Midnight voting is not going to take place in this tiny township for the first time since 1996 for New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary Jan. 23, according to Town Moderator Les Schoof and Selectmen Chairman Mark Dindorf.
The decision was made by Schoof the week before Christmas, as moderators had to have their polling hours submitted to the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office, according to Dindorf.
“There are 20-plus categories on each ballot. We didn’t want to stay up till 2 in the morning tabulating all of those write-ins,” Schoof when contacted by the Sun, adding that there are many more stringent voting law requirements this year, which was also mentioned by Dindorf.
Said Dindorf, who was among those in the town who wanted the tradition to continue but who said he and others are deferring to Schoof’s decision not to continue the midnight voting for now, “The challenge has been mounting in terms of the increasing amount of paperwork and reporting required in the aftermath of the past election and to manage the added write-ins was an added challenge. It would be difficult for us to turn around.”
Schoof and Dindorf were referring to all of the expected write-ins on the ballots, especially the Democratic ballot, since incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden has chosen not to enter New Hampshire’s primary even though he is running for re-election.
“We expect the write-in calculations will take forever, as you know it is done on paper. We’re not interested in doing that all night,” said Schoof.
According to Anna Sventek, director of communications for New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan’s office, the township of Millsfield is also not doing the midnight voting for the primary. But she said Dixville Notch is continuing the practice.
Emails placed to town clerks in Millsfield and Dixville were not returned as of press time for further comment.
Hart’s Location has been holding midnight voting since 1952. The town started out with 7 a.m. first-in-the-nation voting in 1948, getting the results out to the world in minutes, given the small number of registered voters. But it switched to midnight voting four years later to give railroad workers a better chance to vote.
Tired of all the media ruckus, residents voted to end the midnight practice after the 1964 election. But it was revived in 1996, led by the efforts of Notchland Inn innkeepers Les Schoof and Ed Butler, who bought the inn in 1993.
After it was revived, both midnight presidential primary and general election voting was held at the Notchland Inn in 1996, 2000 and 2004, but the voting was moved in 2008 to the town hall once the town obtained the former hostel building from the Appalachian Mountain Club’s old Crawford House site, now home to the Highland Center.
Voting was also held there for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 primary and general elections. Schoof says this year’s primary voting on Jan. 23 will be held at the Notchland Inn from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
“No one wanted to sit at town hall for eight hours so it will be here instead,” said Schoof.
He said that as of now, Hart’s Location has 48 registered voters.
“Off the top of my head, I’d say roughly a third are undeclared, a third are Democrats and a third are Republican. As is the case throughout the state it is the independents that will swing the vote,” said Schoof.
He said he does not know if Hart’s Location will bring back the midnight voting for the general election come Nov. 5, 2024.
When asked, Dindorf said it is always put to a vote at town meeting March 12.
“Whether it will be a warrant article or come up for discussion under other business, I am not sure,” said Dindorf.
The town’s voting committee is made up of Schoof, Town Clerk Katie Landry, the board of selectmen (Dindorf, John Gallagher and David Walker); and the supervisors of the checklist Nancy Ritger (Dindorf’s wife) and Susan Wilder.
In the 2020 primary, Sen. Amy Klobuchar was the popular choice in Hart’s Location, receiving six votes in the Democratic race. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in second with four votes. Andrew Yang and Sen. Bernie Sanders followed with three votes and two votes, respectively. Biden, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Tom Steyer each received one vote.
On the Republican side, then incumbent President Donald Trump came out on top with 15 votes. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld got four votes, and Concord native Mary Maxwell received one vote.
In the November 2020 general election, Biden outpolled Trump, 23-20.
In the 2016 primary, on the Democratic ballot, results were: Sanders, 12; Hillary Clinton, seven, and Mark Stewart Greenstein, two. On the Republican ballot, Gov. John Kasich, five ; Trump, four and former Gov. Chris Christie, two. Receiving one vote each were Sen. Marco Rubio, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Dr. Ben Carson.
In the Nov. 2016 general election, Hillary Clinton defeated Trump, 17-14; with Libertarian Gary Johnson receiving three votes and Sanders receiving two write-ins and Kasich/Sanders receiving one write-in vote.
According to January, 2016 Boston Globe story about Hart’s Location, the town got a nod from the popular “West Wing” TV show in 2002 in an episode called “Hartsfield’s Landing.”
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