New Hampshire Residents Head to Vote in First-in-the-Nation Primaries

(L-R) Moderator Tom Tillotson, supervisor of the checklist Joe Casey, and town clerk Deborah Tillotson look on as Coralie Stepanian marks a Republican write-in vote on the board for Democratic candidate and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg during the presidential primary election midnight vote in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, on Feb. 11, 2020. Three of the five votes went to Bloomberg. Paul Hayes/Caledonian-Record via AP

Voters in New Hampshire started voting early Feb. 11 and will continue throughout the day as political observers keep a close eye to see who emerges as the Democratic winner after the chaotic caucuses in Iowa.

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38, was declared the winner of the caucuses but his campaign and that of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 78—who came second—filed requests to recanvass on Monday amid widespread disputes on the final tallies.

The first votes in New Hampshire took place just after midnight, when three small townships in the state cast their ballots. Polls in two cities opened at 6 a.m.; the opening times in other areas varied, with some as late as 11 a.m. Voters in many parts of the state would have until 7 p.m. to cast votes; others would have until 8 p.m.

A winner is expected to be projected by the end of the day.

Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Exeter, New Hampshire, on Feb. 10, 2020. Elise Amendola/AP Photo

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) accompanied by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) takes the stage at campaign stop at the Whittemore Center Arena at the University of New Hampshire in Durham on Feb. 10, 2020. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks to the press following a town hall at South Church in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on Feb. 10, 2020. Scott Olsen/Getty Images

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) answers media questions following a campaign event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Feb. 9, 2020. Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Registered Democrats and people who aren’t members of a political party can vote in the Democratic primary; only registered Republicans can vote in the GOP primary.

Republican President Donald Trump, 73, was expected to easily win another state with only one longshot challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, 74, left in the race. But the winner of the Democratic primary is still very much open.

New Hampshire has 33 delegates that will be awarded based on vote totals for candidates who earn more than 15 percent of the vote across the state or in at least one of the state’s two congressional districts.

“News organizations may try to apportion delegates based on early results, but they may be wrong because they don’t consider each Congressional district’s total—which are the numbers used to assign delegates,” the New Hampshire Democratic Party said in a statement.

Democratic 2020 U.S presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) speaks during a campaign event at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, on Feb. 8, 2020. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang exits Hopkinton Town Hall following a campaign event in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, on Feb. 9, 2020. Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Gilford, New Hampshire, on Feb. 10, 2020. Carlos Barria/Reuters

While the party is in charge of running a primary or caucus in other states, the primaries in New Hampshire are run by the state’s secretary of state.

The primary is the first in the nation, which is mandated by state law.

While the Iowa caucuses were roiled by issues with an application designed to speed up and make easier the reporting of precinct results, New Hampshire officials said no such problems will happen in the primaries.

“It’s not going to happen here,” Secretary of State Bill Gardner, 71, told the Portsmouth Herald. “We’re in good shape.”

Former Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick attends the SiriusXM Broadcast of the 2020 New Hampshire Democratic Primary in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Feb. 10, 2020. Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for SiruisXM

SiriusXM host Julie Mason speaks with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Feb. 10, 2020. Paul Marotta/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Former New York Mayor and 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg during the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington on Jan. 22, 2020. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

The primaries will have voters cast ballots that are primarily counted by machines not connected to the internet, in stark contrast to the relatively complex caucuses that include three different sets of numbers.

Machines used to count the votes were tested by the city and two clerks, Gardner said. The results were confirmed by hand. After the tests, which were conducted in public, the vote-counting boxes were locked up until Tuesday.

Gardner said on his office’s website that he expects 292,000 ballots cast in the Democratic primary and 128,000 ballots cast in the Republican primary. If the numbers hold, it would be the most votes cast in a presidential primary when an incumbent is running for reelection.