US Election Results: Kamala Harris, Donald Trump TIE in New Hampshire’s Dixville Notch hamlet in first votes

US Election Results 2024: The New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch, near the US-Canada border, became the first place in the country to cast a ballot for the 2024 US Presidential elections on November 5 ‘Election Day’. As the voting kicked off in the tiny community in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, the early outcome in the US presidential polls mirrored the incredibly close White House race.

There was a tie between the two US presidential candidates, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. They each got three ballots in New Hampshire's Dixville Notch – which for decades has kicked off Election Day at the stroke of midnight on Monday, hours before the rest of the country's polling stations open.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are neck-and-neck in the 2024 US election. Opinion polls have largely predicted a close battle between the two. The two leaders are facing cut-throat competition in the swing states too. While millions have already cast their ballots in early voting, the final round of voting took place on Tuesday, November 5.

The township opened and closed its poll just after midnight ET in a tradition that dates back to 1960, CNN reported. Electoral laws in New Hampshire allow municipalities with fewer than 100 residents to open their polling stations at midnight and to close them when all registered voters have fulfilled their civic duty.

Dixville Notch's residents had voted unanimously for then candidate Joe Biden in 2020, reportedly only the second presidential hopeful to get all the votes since the midnight voting tradition began in 1960, news agency AP reported.

Dixville Notch voters handed a surprise unanimous victory to Republican White House hopeful Nikki Haley in New Hampshire's primary in January. Haley ultimately quit the race due to an insurmountable Trump lead – but Tuesday's vote shows that three voters opted not to back the billionaire in the general election.

While the counting of votes after Tuesday's election will help decide a “projected winner” of the US elections, the official president-elect will be decided only after the voting by the Electoral College in December this year. A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to become the US President.

Electoral College

There are a total of 538 electoral votes in the college; 435 House of Representatives, 100 Senate seats and 3 seats from Washington DC. A candidate needs a minimum of 270 votes to become the President. Every state has a certain number of electoral votes.

California has the maximum number of seats with 54, followed by Texas (40) and Florida (30). On the other hand, states like North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, and Vermont have a minimum number of 3 seats.

Besides, there are mainly seven swing states -- Nevada (6), Arizona (11), North Carolina (16), Georgia (16), Wisconsin (10), Michigan (15), Pennsylvania (19).