Hart's Location (NH) Voting at Midnight - MEC Connection

Most of you have probably heard of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, which is famous for voting at midnight. Some of you may have also heard of Hart's Location, New Hampshire, which also votes at midnight and is somewhat less well-known.

Here's something that I should have known, but didn't know until I came across a news article this morning:

Conway Daily Sun wrote:The tradition of voting at midnight was started in 1948 to accommodate residents who worked on the Maine Central Railroad which traveled through Crawford Notch.

It's fascinating to think that there was a time, not that long ago, when railroads and railroaders had that much influence on the way a town held its elections.

I don't want to get into a discussion of the candidates or the election results, but here is a link to the article, and if anyone wants to discuss the Maine Central connection to Hart's Location's voting practices, please feel free!

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/featured/ ... s-location

At that time, NH law didn't allow walk-in registration, so the town would have been able to close the polls once everyone on the checklist had voted. Doing it this way also probably made it easier on the Town Clerk or whoever had to drive the ballots to Concord afterward.

Lots of information about Hart's Location. MEC is mentioned.

"In 1875, the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad completed its line up through Crawford Notch. Passengers thrilled to traverse the Frankenstein Trestle, 520 feet (158 meters) long and 85 feet (26 meters) above the ravine floor, and then the Willey Brook Bridge, 400 feet (122 meters) long and 94 feet (29 meters) high. Later part of the Mountain Division of the Maine Central Railroad, the route is still traveled by the Conway Scenic Railroad.[7]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart%27s_L ... _Hampshire