DIXVILLE NOTCH , New Hampshire ( CNN ) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama emerged victorious in the first election returns of the 2008 presidential race , winning 15 of 21 votes cast in Dixville Notch , New Hampshire . People in the isolated village in New Hampshire 's northeast corner voted just after midnight Tuesday . It was the first time since 1968 that the village leaned Democratic in an election . Obama 's rival , Republican John McCain , won 6 votes . A full 100 percent of registered voters in the village cast ballots . And the votes did n't take long to tally . The town , home to around 75 residents , has opened its polls shortly after midnight each election day since 1960 , drawing national media attention for being the first place in the country to make its presidential preferences known . However , since 1996 , another small New Hampshire town -- Hart 's Location -- reinstated its practice from the 1940s and also began opening its polls at midnight . The result in Dixville Notch is hardly a reliable bellwether for the eventual winner of the White House or even the result statewide . Though New Hampshire is a perennial swing state , Dixville Notch -- until now -- had consistently leaned Republican . The last Democrat it picked was Hubert Humphrey over Richard Nixon in 1968 . President Bush won the town in a landslide in the last two elections : He captured 73 percent of the vote in 2004 ( 19 residents picked Bush while six preferred Sen. John Kerry ) , and secured 80 percent of the vote in 2000 ( 21 votes for Bush , five votes for Al Gore . ) But villagers expected the results to be close this year given Democrats now outnumber Republicans there . The town picked both John McCain and Barack Obama for the New Hampshire Democratic and Republican primaries in January . McCain ultimately won the state of New Hampshire , while Sen. Hillary Clinton upset Obama there .
NEW : The results -- seven votes for Obama , six for McCain . Salisbury Center , New Hampshire , residents cast the first votes on Election Day . Voters began casting their ballots at 12 ##am Tuesday morning . The town has hardly been a reliable place for picking the president .