03 November 2004	Wednesday	19 Ramazan 1425

WASHINGTON, Nov 2: President George Bush won an early election day victory in the small New Hampshire hamlet of Dixville Notch which is renowned for casting the country's first ballots in US presidential elections.

A tiny population of 26 registered voters backed Bush by a comfortable 19-7 margin over Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry, according to a tally by the town clerk's office.

No votes were cast for independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader in the small settlement located in New Hampshire's White Mountains, just south of the Canadian border in the US northeast.

The settlement's 26 voters trooped into the luxury Balsams hotel just after midnight local time (0500 GMT) Tuesday to cast some of the first votes in the 2004 election. Almost half were registered Republicans.

The 26 voters included 11 registered Republicans, two registered Democratic voters and 13 independents, according to the town clerk's records.

Early election day math suggested eight independents voted for Bush while five opted to support Kerry.

In the 2000 election, 21 Dixville Notch voters backed Bush while five voted for then Democratic candidate Al Gore and a single voter backed Nader out of 27 registered voters.-AFP