Early election results out of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, are not 'fake news'

The claim

A Facebook user claims that the election results from Dixville Notch, New Hampshire—where residents this year evenly split their votes between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris—are "fake," arguing that the polls hadn't officially closed when the results were announced.

The post includes an image of a WhatsApp message announcing this year's results, with three votes for Trump and three for Harris.

However, this claim is false. Dixville Notch, a small town with just six residents, has a long-standing tradition of reporting election results before polls close nationwide. Therefore, the early announcement of results is not "fake."

In fact

Since 1960, the residents of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, have cast their ballots at midnight (05:00 GMT), before polling stations across the country have even opened, let alone closed. All eligible voters vote at this time, and the results are quickly counted and announced—this year it took just 12 minutes to count the six votes, with the results posted in just 15 minutes.

As one of the first places in the U.S. to report results, Dixville Notch's tradition has become a symbolic start to Election Day, drawing national attention over the years.

This is entirely legal under New Hampshire election laws, which allow towns with fewer than 100 voters to open polls at midnight and announce results immediately, as long as they can verify that all eligible voters had the opportunity to vote. 

This year's tie was surprising, as Dixville Notch voters had backed the Democratic candidate in the last two presidential elections. In 2020, only five people voted, all for Joe Biden, while in 2016, Hillary Clinton won four out of seven votes, with two going to Donald Trump and one to Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

In addition to Dixville Notch, a small number of other New Hampshire communities follow this tradition. One of these is Hart's Location, and this year Millsfield joined in. While Dixville Notch gets a lot of media attention, Hart's Location and Millsfield get less.

It is believed that the tradition began to accommodate railway workers who were unable to vote at regular times.

The verdict

In New Hampshire, state law allows towns with fewer than 100 residents to announce their election results before the polls close across the state. This rule is also followed in Dixville Notch, where it has become a long-standing tradition. 

Follow Logically Facts' coverage and fact-checking of the U.S. Election 2024 here.