Dixville Notch, New Hampshire (CNN) Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got an early boost Tuesday as they won the vote in Dixville Notch, the New Hampshire hamlet that is home to the first vote in the first-in-the-nation primary. 
 
 Sanders shut out Hillary Clinton, 4-0, while Kasich bested Donald Trump, 3-2. 
 
 Those were the only nine votes cast. 
 
 Nestled into the White Mountains in New Hampshire's northernmost reaches, Dixville Notch and two nearby towns, Hart's Location and Millsfield, don't count for many votes, but they do offer one positive for the winners: For nearly a full day, they're ahead in the only results that have been tallied in the Granite State's crucial primary. 
 
 In Millsfield, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the GOP vote with nine votes compared to Trump's three, while several other GOP candidates received one vote apiece. Clinton received two votes to beat Sanders, who received one. 
 
 A decades-long tradition 
 
 At Dixville Notch, it's a tradition that dates to the 1960s: A few voters and dozens of political journalists pile into The Balsams, where the votes are cast at midnight and counted immediately. 
 
 The town doesn't have a record of predicting much about New Hampshire's primary. In 2008, then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama won the Democratic primary by a 7-2 vote, even though Clinton won the state. 
 
 JUST WATCHED What it took to save New Hampshire's midnight vote Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What it took to save New Hampshire's midnight vote 04:13 
 
 In 2000, George W. Bush beat John McCain, even though the Arizona senator won the state. And in 2012, Jon Huntsman won just as many votes -- two -- as Mitt Romney, the party's eventual nominee. 
 
 A fictionalized version of Dixville Notch and its two early-voting neighbors was featured in an episode of Aaron Sorkin's "West Wing" -- this one dubbed "Hartsfield's Landing." 
 
 Dixville Notch's nine-vote contingency is largely made of the staff redeveloping The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, which has been closed since its sale in 2011. 
 
 Still open, though, is the resort's wood-paneled Ballot Room, which is decorated with political articles and cartoons dating back to its first-ever midnight vote: the 1960 general election, when Dixville Notch went 9-0 for Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy. 
 
 A picture of the town's voters from the era is among the art featured in the room. 
 
 Tom Tillotson, the 71-year-old town moderator who has run the midnight voting for decades (and voted for Kasich this time), said "of course it's fun" to keep the tradition alive. 
 
 "This is an example of American democracy where 100% of the voters come out and vote," he said. "It's also a part of a primary process where it's sort of an endangered species where the candidates actually go out and talk to the voters, and anything we can do to keep that alive helps our political process." 
 
 Voters explain their ballots 
 
 "Remember the old Wendy's commercial: 'Where's the beef?'" said the Kasich-supporting Les Otten, 66, the developer who is reworking The Balsams. 
 
 "At the end of the day, there was more meat and there was less noise," he said of Kasich's campaign. "To me, it came down between he and Jeb Bush. I think they were both great, but Kasich managed to stay out of the fray." 
 
 Jeff Stevens, a 60-year-old construction manager on The Balsams, wouldn't say who he supported, but he did vote for a Republican, and his reasoning echoed Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. 
 
 "What matters to me in a candidate is someone who loves America and who wants to keep making it better for all Americans," Stevens said. "I'm for any candidate who loves America, wants to make it better, and wants to make it better for all Americans." 
 
 On the Democratic side, it was unanimous: Every blue ballot went for Sanders. 
 
 Clayton Smith, a 28-year-old military veteran who's now a sales and development employee at The Balsams, followed the Democratic race's broader trend and -- like most young voters -- went with Sanders. 
 
 "Even though I don't agree with every one of his policies, he has his convictions, and I admire that, I respect that, and I think that's what swayed it for me is he has principle," Smith said. ||||| An audience member listens as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign stop at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore Center Arena, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016,... (Associated Press) 
 
 An audience member listens as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign stop at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore Center Arena, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, in Durham, N.H. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (Associated Press) 
 
 An audience member listens as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign stop at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore Center Arena, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, in Durham, N.H. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (Associated Press) An audience member listens as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign stop at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore Center Arena, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016,... (Associated Press) 
 
 DIXVILLE, N.H. (AP) — Bernie Sanders and John Kasich picked up the most votes as the first ballots of the first-in-the-nation primary were cast early Tuesday. 
 
 Sanders won over all four Democratic voters in the tiny town of Dixville, while Kasich sneaked past Donald Trump, 3-2, among Republicans. 
 
 Under New Hampshire state law, communities with fewer than 100 voters can get permission to open their polls at midnight and close them as soon as all registered voters have cast their ballots. While that happened in three locations, Dixville traditionally gets most of the spotlight due to its media-friendly setup at the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel. 
 
 Located about 20 miles from the Canadian border, Dixville exists as a town only for voting purposes. Almost all of its nine voters are employees of the hotel, which closed in 2011 but is currently undergoing a major overhaul under new owners. 
 
 Former owner Neil Tillotson started the midnight voting tradition in 1960, likely at the suggestion of a news photographer looking for an advantage in getting his pictures out to newspapers ahead of his rivals. For many years, voters cast their ballots in individual booths in the hotel's posh ballot room. Because of the renovations, the nine current residents voted in another building on the property, the Hale House. 
 
 In 2012, there was a tie for first place on the Republican side, with Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman getting two votes apiece. All three Democrats voted for Obama. 
 
 Hart's Location, about 80 miles south of Dixville, first hosted midnight voting in 1948 but gave it up after the 1964 election when residents grew weary of the late hours and media frenzy every four years. Energized with new blood, town residents revived the tradition in 1996, and this year, the town has 41 registered voters. 
 
 Millsfield is also making a comeback this year, though it's unclear just when the town last voted at midnight or when its tradition started. According to a 1952 article in Time magazine, eight residents voted at midnight during the general election that year. This year, there are 22 registered voters.
– Visiting Dixville Notch has paid off for John Kasich: The Ohio governor has prevailed in the northern New Hampshire village that casts the first ballots of the country's first primary, the AP reports. The Ohio governor, the only candidate to make it to the village, had 3 votes to Donald Trump's 2, while all four Dixville Notch Democrats voted for Bernie Sanders. Two other nearby towns also vote at midnight and release results immediately. In Millsfield, CNN reports that Ted Cruz beat Trump 9-3, with a few other GOP candidates getting 1 vote apiece, while Clinton beat Sanders 2-1. In Hart's Location, Sanders beat Clinton 12-7 and Kasich had 5 votes to Trump's 4, with four other GOP candidates splitting the other five votes.