# OK, NH Votes First In the nation: Who Votes last? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-nh-votes-first-in-the-nation-who-votes-last/269662 "2004-10-17T13:38:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-nh-votes-first-in-the-nation-who-votes-last/269662/1 "2004-10-17T13:38:04Z")
The little town of Crawford Notch, NH is the firts town to cast votes in the USA…which town is the last? Is it Nome , Alaska ? (seems like Nome is the Westrnmost US town). Or is it Guam (Guam is west of the IDL-does this make them actually first?) Plus, how long does it take to count all the votes in Alaska? Some of these places are probably only reachable by dogsled! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-nh-votes-first-in-the-nation-who-votes-last/269662/2 "2004-10-17T13:51:45Z")
Presuming you’re talking national elections, for President and state officials, Guam is a territory, with only such local government as Congress has authorized. The answer to your question, in terms of the point that has a polling place open longest, would be whatever populated outlier in the Hawaiian or Aleutian Islands chains is farthest west and closes the latest – Midway, Atka, etc. (At one time the Aleutians were in a time zone an hour later than mainland Alaska and the main islands of Hawaii; I think that has since changed.) BTW, does **all of** New Hampshire end their polls early on election day, or are we just talking the communities that intentionally and specifically do it early in order to be the first results in the nation? ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-nh-votes-first-in-the-nation-who-votes-last/269662/3 "2004-10-17T14:01:46Z")
FWIW, the town in NH is **Dixville** Notch. > [@](#): > > BTW, does all of New Hampshire end their polls early on election day, or are we just talking the communities that intentionally and specifically do it early in order to be the first results in the nation? [http://www.thebalsams.com/firstinnation.cfm](http://www.thebalsams.com/firstinnation.cfm) Also…keep in mind that under federal law, overseas ballots count as long as they are postmarked by election day and arrive no more than 10 days later. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-nh-votes-first-in-the-nation-who-votes-last/269662/4 "2004-10-17T14:27:56Z")
Some states, including Nevada, already have their polls open for early voting. Seems like a convenient thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-nh-votes-first-in-the-nation-who-votes-last/269662/5 "2004-10-17T18:36:36Z")
When we speak of Dixville Notch as being the first place in the nation to vote, we are referring to votes being _counted_, not cast. Many people are already voting by absentee ballot or by special arrangement. However, Dixville Notch will be the first location to count and report its vote. Because of the provision in New Hampshire law that allows a polling place to close if every registered citizen has voted, Dixville Notch will report its vote shortly after midnight EST on Tuesday. If you’re interested, tune in to C-SPAN at that time. The town of [Hart’s Location, New Hampshire](http://gprime.com/varney/) (in Crawford Notch, source of the earlier confusion) also does an early close, but because the Balsams is more easily able to accommodate TV crews it gets more publicity. When discussing the _last_ place to vote, by contrast, we are speaking of votes being cast, not counted. As we saw in 2000, counting the votes can take an eternity. The [last polling places to close](http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G04/closing.phtml?format=mc) are those in the state of Alaska, in the Hawaii-Aleutian time zone, which close at 8:00 local time or 1:00 a.m. Wednesday Eastern time. Hawaii is in the same time zone, but closes its polls at the unconscionably early hour of 6:00. So some hardy, unknown Aleut will have the honor of casting the last legal ballot of the 2004 election.