New Hampshire midnight voting ignites Trump-Haley showdown

DIXVILLE NOTCH, United States, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- The New Hampshire primary of the 2024 U.S. presidential election began at midnight on Tuesday with the first ballots cast in the remote community of Dixville Notch.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who easily won the Iowa Republican caucuses last week, faces the challenge from Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and onetime South Carolina governor, in the closely-watched New Hampshire showdown.

Dixville Notch, located in the northern part of New Hampshire and close to the Canadian border, has only six registered voters, and all of them voted after midnight, continuing a decades-old tradition. Other polls across the Granite State will open hours later in the day and close in the evening.

A new Washington Post-Monmouth University poll found that 52 percent of potential primary voters in New Hampshire support Trump, compared with 34 percent for Haley. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is at 8 percent. The survey was completed before DeSantis' announcement of suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump on Sunday.