In Dixville Notch, N.H., it's a Romney-Huntsman tie

DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. — Voters in the tiny New Hampshire village famed for casting the first ballots in the nation's first presidential primary found themselves in a tie Tuesday between Republicans Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman. Nine ballots were cast in New Hampshire's Dixville Notch just after midnight. Romney and Huntsman received two votes each. Coming in second with one vote apiece were Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. For the Democrats, President Barack Obama received three votes. The nine residents who cast their ballots include three registered Republicans and two registered Democrats. Four other voters haven't declared a party. Dixville Notch is an unincorporated village in northern New Hampshire just below the Canadian border. The town clerk, Rick Erwin, said the nine registered voters make up the entire Dixville Notch population. The only other place casting midnight votes was Hart's Location, a small town in the White Mountains that started the early-vote tradition in 1948 to accommodate railroad workers who had to be at work before normal voting hours. Hart's Location suspended the midnight voting in 1964 and brought it back in 1996. Of the 23 votes cast Tuesday, Romney received five and Paul received four. Huntsman received two, and Gingrich and Rick Perry each received one vote. Ten people voted for Obama. Rivals look to chip away at Romney The rest of New Hampshire voters go to the polls Tuesday after receiving months of attention from the Republican candidates and witnessing an increasingly sharp tone in the intraparty struggle for the nomination. Romney suffered an ill-timed, foot-in-mouth moment the day before — declaring he liked to be able to fire people — and his rivals were quick to pounce. But they pulled back from their attacks Tuesday, noting that Romney's clumsy quote actually referred to peoples' right to ditch their health care companies for better ones. The candidates seemed eager to present a kinder face to voters finally heading to the polls. "I'm not going to play gotcha politics," said Rick Santorum, who rocketed to prominence with a virtual tie with Romney in Iowa.