POLITICS
Why is New Hampshire’s primary the first in the country?
After Iowa, the second state to vote in a primary is New Hampshire. Why is the state so early in the electoral calendar?
Today, voters in New Hampshire are heading to the polls to vote in the state’s primary. This is the first primary election after the Iowa caucuses. As a result, many voters in the state have had the opportunity to interact with the candidates. Following his second-place finish in Iowa, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has abandoned his campaign. As a result, Nikki Haley is Trump’s only competitor left in the race. The Haley team has put a lot of groundwork into New Hampshire. While she has a slim chance of securing a victory, the polls show that it is likely the only state she could win.
‘First-in-the-Nation’ status
For over 100 years, New Hampshire has held the “First-in-the-Nation Presidential Primary.” The first of these primaries took place on Tuesday, 9 March 1920, and the state maintained the status since then.
A law was passed in the state to protect its status in the 1970s and has remained primarily unchallenged until this year. The law states that the primary will “be held on the second Tuesday in March” unless other states hold their primaries before that date. In those cases, the Secretary of State will schedule the primary for a Tuesday at least “7 days or more immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election.”
Officially, the first Democratic Primary will take place in South Carolina this year, as it was the first primary that President Biden won in 2020, and is much more demographically similar to the country as a whole than New Hampshire. For this reason, President Biden will not appear on the New Hampshire ballot, but Democrats looking to vote for him will be able to write him in.
What time do polls close in New Hampshire?
You can use a tool offered by the state’s election commission to identify your polling location and the hours it will be open today.
For those who have not registered, the state does allow citizens over the age of 18 who are domiciled in the state to register on Election Day. Head to your closest polling location, and a poll worker can help you register and cast a ballot.