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What Time Does The New Hampshire Primary End?

by Cate Carrejo

New Hampshire woke up early and headed to the polls Tuesday morning. Home to the second statewide election of the season, voters in the state took to the ballots as early as midnight. But how long does the world have to wait until the polls in the New Hampshire primary close?

Like many states, the polls stay open in New Hampshire until a few hours after the traditional workday ends. The polls close at 7 p.m. ET on the dot, at which time all eligible voters should have reported to their precincts to cast their ballots. New Hampshire law permits same-day registration, so if you live in New Hampshire and forgot to register, you can still go down to your local polling place and cast your ballot.

The good news is that you can already track the progress in the Granite State. Dixville Notch, the tiny town that gets to vote first in New Hampshire, already elected its winners. Only nine votes were cast there — five for Republicans and four for Democrats. John Kasich beat Donald Trump by three to two, while Bernie Sanders got all four Democratic votes. Dixville Notch has accurately predicted the eventual party nominees for the last 10 elections, which makes this outcome particularly fascinating. Kasich and Sanders are both particularly strong in New Hampshire, but are struggling in other states. Perhaps the town's streak will be broken, or perhaps this is the signal of a changing tide.

But Dixville Notch was just the tip of the iceberg — the New Hampshire secretary of state predicts a historic voter turnout of more than 550,000 for this primary. The state allows out-of-state college kids to claim residency and vote in the primaries, which should be a good contribution to the Sanders campaign, since he has a big chunk of the millennial demographic. And while there was some significant snowfall Monday night which interfered with last-minute campaign rallies, it's not expected to keep voters away from the polls.

One percent of precincts are already reporting, showing Texas Senator and Iowa caucus winner Ted Cruz tied with Kasich and Trump for the Republicans and a whopping 28 point margin for Sanders over Hillary Clinton. Many news media outlets are streaming live online already in anticipation of the final tally, so you can follow along with the action all day in case any of these rankings change.