New Hampshire primary, 2008
The New Hampshire primary of 2008 is the first primary that is held to determine New Hampshire's delegates to the National Convention. This is one of the first events that will provide an indication of the candidates for the US presidential elections of 2008.
Scheduling
Following the 2004 presidential election, some elements in the Democratic Party proposed new primary calendars that would end the New Hampshire primary's first-in-the-nation status. The Commission on Presidential Nomination Timing and Scheduling issued a report at the end of 2005, recommending adding several caucuses ahead of New Hampshire's primary. The recommendations were approved by the full Democratic National Committee. However, New Hampshire state law requires the primary to take place seven days before any other "similar contest," which state officials have always interpreted to mean any contest other than Iowa's caucus. The Republican Party, meanwhile, has maintained its support of the current primary calendar. New Hampshire officials indicate they will force candidates who want to campaign in the state to follow New Hampshire rules and skip any primary that is "too close" in time. It is unlikely that a serious candidate could risk skipping New Hampshire with its vast media attention.
Despite many questions surrounding the 2008 primary calendar, New Hampshire still held the earliest primary on January 8, five days after the Iowa caucuses. Michigan will hold the next primary on January 15, seven days after New Hampshire's, with South Carolina and Nevada following shortly afterward.
Results
Early voting
The two early voting districts, Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, open their polls at 12:00AM on election day. Polls closed shortly after when all registered voters had finished. These districts are the first in the nation to release their results.
Dixville Notch
| Dem. primary: (10 votes)[1] |
Rep. primary: (7 votes)[1] |
|---|---|
| Barack Obama - 7 | John McCain - 4 |
| John Edwards - 2 | Mitt Romney - 2 |
| Bill Richardson - 1 | Rudy Giuliani - 1 |
Hart's Location
| Dem. primary: (13 votes)[2] |
Rep. primary: (16 votes)[2] |
|---|---|
| Barack Obama - 9 | John McCain - 6 |
| Hillary Clinton - 3 | Mike Huckabee - 5 |
| John Edwards - 1 | Ron Paul - 4 |
| Mitt Romney - 1 |
Template:Future election candidate
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (January 2008) |
All polls in New Hampshire closed on January 8, 2008 at 8:00 pm EST. Results are certified by the NH Secretary of State the day following the vote. A total of 850,836 registered voters were reported - 26% Democratic, 30% Republican, and 44% Independent.
Republicans
Mitt Romney declared roughly 45 minutes after the polls closed at 8:00 pm EST that he won "another silver."
As of 1:40 am EDT, 96% of all precincts had reported. The votes were as follows:
John McCain with 37% of the vote and an estimated 4 delegates;
Mitt Romney with 32% of the vote and an estimated 3 delegates;
Mike Huckabee with 11% of the vote and an estimated 0 delegates.
Democrats
As of 3:00 am EST, 96% of all precincts had reported. The votes were as follows:
Hillary Clinton with 39% of the vote and an estimated 9 delegates;
Barack Obama with 37% of the vote and an estimated 9 delegates;
John Edwards with 17% of the vote and an estimated 4 delegates.
Hillary Clinton is the projected winner of the New Hampshire Primary .[3]
Discrepancy between pre-election polls and results
In a USA Today/Gallup poll taken on January 7, Obama had a 13 point lead over Clinton. [4] In a CNN poll on the same day, Obama had a 9 point lead. [5] Gary Langer, director of polling for ABC News, claims that "It is simply unprecedented for so many polls to have been so wrong." [6] Professor Jon A. Krosnick, of Stanford University, shows that Clinton appeared before Obama in every ballot, rather than in random order. He estimates that this may constitute 3% of the difference between Obama and Clinton. [7]
Allegations of fraud
Several blogs have pointed out that Obama led Clinton in precincts (both urban and rural) which used hand counting, whereas Clinton led Obama in precincts which used Diebold voting machines. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Notes
- ^ a b "McCain, Obama Win First Ballots In Dixville Notch, N.H.", FOXNews, January 8, 2008, retrieved 2008-01-08
{{citation}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ a b Canfield, Clarke (January 8, 2008), "McCain, Obama, get early votes in N.H. villages", Associated Press, retrieved 2008-01-08
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#NH
- ^ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=4095454&page=1
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/07/nh.poll/index.html
- ^ http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2008/01/new-hampshires.html
- ^ http://www.abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Decision2008/story?id=4107883
- ^ http://ronrox.com/paulstats.php?party=DEMOCRATS
- ^ http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5530
- ^ http://presscue.com/node/38034
- ^ http://benmoseley.blogspot.com/2008/01/do-nh-primary-statistics-show-election.html
- ^ http://www.bostonnow.com/blogs/boston911truthorg/2008/01/09/major-allegations-of-vote-fraud-in-new-hampshire
References
- Brereton, Charles (1987). First in the Nation: New Hampshire and the Premier Presidential Primary. Portsmouth, N.H.: Peter E. Randall. ISBN 0-914339-20-6.
- Casey, Susan Berry (1986). Hart and Soul: Gary Hart's New Hampshire Odyssey... and Beyond. Concord, N.H.: NHI Press. ISBN 0-9617115-0-7.
- Cash, Kevin (1975). Who the Hell Is William Loeb?. Manchester, N.H.: Amoskeag Press.
- Palmer, Niall A. (1997). The New Hampshire Primary and the American Electoral Process. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-95569-9. online version
- Scala, Dante J. (2003). Stormy Weather: The New Hampshire Primary and Presidential Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-29622-3.