DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. (AP) - For the first time since the tiny community of Dixville became the first in the nation to cast votes for president in 1960, the stately resort that's hosted the midnight voting will be closed for the Nov. 6 election.

The tradition of midnight voting will continue, however, for 10 registered voters in Dixville at a local ski lodge.

The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, a remote, Victorian- and Alpine-style complex about 20 miles from Canada, is under new ownership and is closed for renovations. It is known for its wood-paneled Ballot Room, where residents cast their votes for president at midnight on New Hampshire's primary day and on the nation's Election Day. The room is filled with a time capsule of political articles and cartoons from presidential campaigns and a special glass-encased ballot box.

The nearly 150-year-old resort was officially closed in September 2011. It was sold for $2.3 million to two local businessmen who hope to re-open it next year. More than 2,400 items at the resort were auctioned off in May, including mahogany chairs, dishes stamped with the hotel's logo, and linens.

The hotel this year was re-opened just for one night, the state's first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Jan. 10.

Voting on Nov. 6 will be at the lodge at the Balsams Wilderness Ski Area.

Dixville shares midnight voting with Hart's Location, which actually started the early-bird tradition in 1948 because most residents were railroad workers


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who had to be on the job during normal polling hours. Townspeople, however, weary of the media attention and the late hours, later did away with the practice, but revived it in 1996.

Former Balsams owner Neil Tillotson, eager to steal the spotlight from Hart's Location, arranged for the early elections by having Dixville incorporated in 1960 solely for voting purposes.