Monitor staff

Editor’s note: This live blog will be updated throughout the day as more information comes in from local polls. Check back for updates.

Over half of registered voters cast ballots by 2:30 p.m. in Hopkinton

Bellamy Ridinger, 28, from Hopkinton, wants to see the country shift toward a more moral and civil discourse. For Ridinger, candidates who prioritize the future of democracy and uphold decency guided his choices at the ballot box.

After casting his vote at the Hopkinton Middle High School during a quiet afternoon lull, Ridinger reflected on the impact of former President Trump’s campaigns.

“I think the voter base that Trump has associated with has inspired other people to get involved with other people’s business and it definitely has increased emotional violence,” he said.

The day saw a busy start, with 600 votes cast in the first hour. By 2:30 p.m., more than 2,660 ballots had been counted — over half of the registered voters.

As a transgender person, Ridinger is tired of adults protesting trans athletes in schools.

“I think the people who are afraid of Democrats are focused on taxes, but it’s more than that,” he explained. “I’m interested in people who are protecting our students and each other.”

Weare Democratic hopes for peace post election

Linda Taylor is already looking forward to tonight. She plans to go home, watch Jeopardy and wait for votes to come in. But more so, she’s looking forward to tomorrow, when her husband, David Trumble, will finally finish his campaign for state senate.

“Our anniversary was three days ago and we finally got to see each other to exchange presents last night,” she said. “It’s been very, very busy, he’s been pouring his heart and soul into it.”

Outside the polls on Election Day, Taylor held homemade signs that said “vote blue,” next to a swath of local Democrats, including Luke Drake, who is running for state representative.

Although she’s lived in Weare for 28 years, each Election Day can be tricky as a Democrat in a predominantly red town, she said.

“This year we haven’t been spat at, which is really great,” she said.

Despite President Joe Biden winning New Hampshire in 2020 with 52 percent of the statewide vote, former President Donald Trump carried Weare – winning the town of 9,000 with 58 percent.

For Ernestina Armendariz, who has lived in Weare for six years, thinking about her daughters and granddaughter at the polls motivated her to vote down ballot Democrat.

“We’ve come such a long way from women’s suffrage and everything,” she said. “Politicians and the government shouldn’t tell us what we should do because right now it is abortion, tomorrow it might be something else.”

As she turned on her television this cycle, messaging on abortion could be overkill at times, she said, but she understood the importance of women’s rights as a focal point for Democratic campaigns.

But among divisive rhetoric that has driven campaigns, she’s also hoping for a little peace post-election. So to go to the polls she put on a shirt emblematic of that – a gray long-sleeve sweatshirt that read “practice peace” around a daisy sign.

“My view of Trump is that he isn’t so much for peace,” she said. “So his time has come to say goodbye.”

Weare voters switch back to selecting Republican candidates

Jean Stafford has two reasons to wear her American flag pants. First, to support her grandchildren at John Stark High School, where they’re the Generals. The second, on Election Day.

In Weare, Jean headed to the polls with her husband Bill in her red, white and blue, where they voted down ballot Republican for candidates from former President Donald Trump to Kelly Ayotte for governor.

That hasn’t always been the case, though.

In 2020, Bill Stafford voted for President Joe Biden.

“The main reason was he was going to be a uniter, but the last thing he’s been is a uniter,” he said. “So I’m not gonna get hoodwinked again.”

With Biden, Bill hoped that the president would be a unifying figure for the country. He’s watched relationships fall apart over politics in recent years and family members stop speaking.

“It’s so divisive, the rhetoric, the country is just so divided,” he said. “It makes it almost unfun to even talk about it.”

But to him, with Biden withdrawing from the race in August and Vice President Kamala Harris put forward as the nominee, the process was “undemocratic” with such a short runway.

As of 1:30 p.m. in Weare, roughly 3,200 voters had cast ballots at the Weare Middle School. Throughout lunchtime, a consistent line was out the door, but turnout was highest in the morning when Lily Tang Williams, the Republican nominee for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District cast her ballot in her hometown.

Colette Guevin arrived at the polls at 7 a.m., ready to hold signs for Trump and Williams with bedazzled American flag earrings she bought on eBay and a Trump pin. She’s been a longtime supporter of Trump, calling him “very American.”

She’d met Williams prior to Election Day and listened to her story of fleeing communism in China, which she’s said serves as a warning for the future of the United States.

As Williams hugged supporters outside the polls to start the day, the line stretched down the street.

“She’s just very pleasant,” said Guevin.

– Michaela Towfighi

In closely-watched State Senate and House races, voters toe the party line

In 2022, Democrat Lorrie Carey beat out Republican Rick Devoid by 22 votes, 752-730, for a Boscawen state representative seat.

On Tuesday, both candidates were back in front of Boscawen Elementary School – stationed not more than 30 feet from each other – in a race that could once again come down to less than 100 votes.

In New Hampshire’s closely divided State House, any of the chamber’s 400 seats could prove the difference between Republicans maintaining control and Democrats taking it back for the first time since 2020, but most voters said their choice at the bottom of the ballot was dictated by how they voted at the top.

“I like Lorrie personally, but I’m a conservative,” said Sue Porter, 72, who cast her ballot for Devoid.

Carey, the chair of the Boscawen Select Board and the longtime owner of Marshall’s Flowers and Gifts, is well-known in town. She was spending Election Day knitting hats alongside a friend from Canterbury.

Devoid, who worked in sales at John Deere, first ran for the State House seat in 2022, motivated by mounting frustration over the economy.

The State Senate race that includes Boscawen, between Republican incumbent Dan Innis and Democrat challenger Stu Green, is also likely to be a close one, but most voters did not have specific opinions about the two candidates.

“As an advocate, Democrats have a lot more to offer to the lower classes,” said independent Zakry Jantzen, 33, who works in substance abuse recovery and voted for both Carey and Green.

– Jeremy Margolis

2:30 p.m.: A first-time voter in Boscawen goes from undecided to supporting Trump

First-time voter Chase Bouthiette is a rare breed: he was truly undecided about who to support in this year’s presidential election.

Bouthiette, 18, lives in Boscawen and is homeschooled by his mother Kim, a Republican. But his father is an Independent, who cycles through Newsmax, CNN, and MSNBC.

Kim has her own opinions about politics, but she said she encourages her three children to come to their own conclusions.

So that is what Bouthiette did. Focusing on what each candidate has said they would do as president, he relied on a range of news websites.

“I wanted to look at both sides, because I believe both have good and bad things to offer,” Bouthiette said after casting his ballot with his parents at Boscawen Elementary School early Tuesday afternoon.

Ultimately he settled on Trump because he said the former president had more concrete plans than Harris.

Bouthiette, who took advantage of New Hampshire’s same-day registration, said the process of voting was smooth and empowering.

“I feel more like an American,” he said. “It feels like so much power.”

His biggest surprise from voting for the first time? Just how many down-ballot races there are.

His father, Brian, concurred.

“I started getting lost on the second page,” Brian said.

– Jeremy Margolis

2 p.m.: Peabody Place residents take a shuttle to vote in Franklin

As the van pulled away from Peabody Place and headed to the polls at Franklin High School, the senior citizens aboard reminisced about prior elections and what voting means to them.

“We used to have booths with curtains and machines that had little levers that you pulled forward to vote,” Doris Weinberg said. “There may have been eight levers for eight votes for different people. When you decided, you pulled the handle and it clicked all those votes into the machine. It was very easy.”

Peabody Place residents chose to vote in-person rather than sending in an absentee ballot. Their Franklin retirement community provided free transportation for any of its residents looking to vote on Election Day and ran a van to the polls and back multiple times.

For Weinberg, 92, voting reminds her of the value of being an American citizen.

“We’re very blessed we can vote so freely and that we have a choice,” Weinberg said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to vote and you can’t do it all over the world. Take advantage of it and never miss an election.”

– Rachel Wachman

1 p.m.: Two Loudon voters share opposing views

After spending the morning in Concord, I headed over to Loudon where voter turnout is also in full swing.

As of 1 p.m., moderator Rodney Phillips tells me, nearly 1,900 people had voted so far — he’s expecting double that by the end of the day.

Nicole Cummings, who walked out of the polling place with her husband and two children, said she voted for Donald Trump.

“I’m looking for changes,” she said.

Cummings said she voted Republican down the ballot. Her priorities are border control and inflation.

“We’ve got a lot of mouths to feed,” she said, nodding to her two young children.

Another voter, Tyler Moser, said she cast her ballot for Kamala Harris. When asked why, she laughed.

“Why wouldn’t you?” Moser said.

She told me she “couldn’t stand” another Trump term — it’s not what this country’s about, Moser said.

While she’s not sure how much any single candidate can affect some of the bigger issues, like the economy or abortion, she wants more sincerity in politics.

“Let’s not keeping hating each other,” Moser said.

– Charlotte Matherly

1 p.m.: Public health and education motivate Dunbarton mother

For Megan White, a 36-year-old mother from Dunbarton and a registered nurse specializing in labor and delivery, her votes today were influenced by candidates’ positions on public healthcare and education.

“I think our state hasn’t changed too much but the climate around women’s health is scary in the country because, you know, it’s more ambiguous,” said White after casting her ballot at the Dunbarton Community Center. “I take care of these patients day to day that we see in real life, and I think there’s a very big lack of understanding about women’s health in general, of what like different procedures are and why we do them, what decisions are made, and the background behind the decisions.”

White firmly believes that reproductive rights should remain outside the state’s control, while maternal mental health should be a shared societal responsibility.

“I think women are very isolated and I think it’s pretty much an individual issue when it should be a society issue,” explained White. “If we do better for moms and we do better for babies, then our society is going to be better as a whole. No one seems to make that connection.”

She voted for Democrat candidates and is anxious about how the results will turn out.

“I’m nervous, but I feel like, as most millennials, I will be surprised by nothing after the last 10 years. I’m just a little cynical and jaded,” said White. “I feel like we’re just going backward.”

– Sruthi Gopalakrishnan

12:45 p.m.: Bow Community Center – Reproductive rights top of mind for Bow voter

At the Bow Community Center, voters lined up around the building, with some waiting at least 45 minutes to cast their ballots. Overflow parking quickly filled, and cars lined both sides of Bow Center Road.

Among those in line was Joi Cozzi, 50, who arrived around 11 a.m. with at least 60 people ahead of her. But she didn’t mind the wait.

Voting today mattered to her, especially on an issue she holds close — abortion rights.

Born just a year after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, Cozzi said she was really happy when the ruling was overturned.

“Roe v. Wade was a bad law,” Cozzi said, wearing a T-shirt that read, “Your liberation cannot be bought with the blood of our children.”

“I grew up being told women are not strong enough to deal with unplanned pregnancies. Women have been told if they want to overcome the patriarchy, they need to kill the unborn. That’s a lie,” she said.

Cozzi, who has six children — three of whom she adopted, including one with a disability — feels that no situation justifies an abortion.

She said she plans to vote for any candidate, regardless of party, who supports a pro-life stance. In the gubernatorial race, that candidate for her is Kelly Ayotte, and in the presidential race, it’s Donald Trump.

But she hoped Ayotte would have been more vocal about being against abortion.

“I was disappointed in Ayotte’s stance but I will vote for her,” said Cozzi. “I wish she was more pro-life. She kind of squirmed there at the end.”

– Sruthi Gopalakrishnan

12:30 p.m.: Concord voters weigh gubernatorial race

Kelly Ayotte has positioned herself as a direct successor of Gov. Chris Sununu: Her ads declare she’ll “follow the Sununu path” and he’s been a vocal endorser.

But not everyone who supported Sununu is on board with his pick.

“I’ve been undeclared since I moved to New Hampshire 40 years ago,” Concord voter Randy Kosow said. “This is the first election ever that I never split my ticket, ever.”

Kosow, 68, voted Democrat top to bottom he said. He supported Sununu in past elections, and thinks he was a good governor.

But Ayotte’s switch on former President Donald Trump, he said, was disqualifying.

In 2016, facing a challenge from Maggie Hassan for her U.S. Senate seat, Ayotte rescinded her support for Trump after the surfacing of the Access Hollywood tape, where he made crude comments about groping women. Today, she supports him firmly.

“She said she couldn’t vote for Trump because of her daughter. Now she loves him,” Kosow said. “That was clearly indicative to me that she’s in it for something other than the people.”

For Aaron Hughes, voting for former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig was more about change than about a specific policy.

Hughes sees himself as a true independent and said that he voted for people in both parties today. He preferred not to say who he voted for in the presidential race, but his priority in the booth, he said, was to encourage turnover.

“As an independent, I kind of try to encourage both parties to just do the work, and it’s been stagnant for so long,” Hughes said of his approach to state-level races. “It’s good to have a change in guard so that we can keep a balance over long term.”

Sununu held office for eight years, and Hughes voted for him. But Republicans have had a statehouse trifecta for the last four years, and he worries about that dominance discouraging collaboration, especially in the state Senate and corner office.

Sununu’s dominance over multiple Democratic challengers came in part because of his popularity among undeclared and independent voters. This year’s battle between Ayotte and Craig is at a razor-thin margin, and undeclared voters — the largest voting bloc in the state — will be decisive.

– Catherine McLaughlin

11:30 a.m. – ‘This line was pretty substantial and significant’ as Concord voters swarm the polls

Trends of booming turnout and lines held true across the city, poll workers in several wards told me.

Secretary of State Dave Scanlan predicted record turnout in New Hampshire this year — so far, in Concord, that’s playing out.

Wards 5 and 7, western and southern residential wards, have above average turnout in a typical year — but this morning moderators were impressed by the busyness.

In Ward 5 the day started with a line that stretched out the door and around the corner and didn’t let up for over an hour, moderator Amy Vorenberg said.

In the two and a half hours since doors opened, 750 people had cast ballots.

“It seems high right now, for us,” she said just after 9:30 a.m. “There have been no lulls.”

As she spoke, the ding of a bell rang throughout the gym at Christa McAuliffe School, followed by a round of applause.

“First-time voter,” she said over the din.

The gym at Abbot-Downing elementary was much the same — by 10:30 a.m., around a third of the roughly 3,100 registered voters in the South End’s Ward 7 had voted, according to moderator William Quinn.

Like at Christa, 7 a.m. saw a line out the door and down the street to Conant Drive, Quinn said.

“Every presidential we have a line — I mean, people want to get in,” he said. “But this line was pretty substantial and significant.”

– Catherine McLaughlin

‘A mob scene earlier’ at Ward 10, 9 a.m.

Today is a momentous occasion for Richard Clymer.

“For the first time in my life, I voted for a Democrat for president,” Clymer said.

As for why he changed his mind, Clymer said he doesn’t want another term of Donald Trump.

“Our country can’t take it,” he said.

He voted for Republicans the rest of the way down the ballot: Kelly Ayotte for governor, Lily Tang Williams for New Hampshire’s second congressional district and Thom Bloomquist for state representative.

Clymer works at BAE Systems, a defense contractor based in Nashua where Ayotte has served as chair of the company’s board of directors.

That’s not all his decision came down to, though.

“I think she has a balanced view on abortion,” Clymer said. He doesn’t think either side should vilify the other, including on abortion issues. “Compassion needs to be the mainstay.”

As for the Concord School District elections, Clymer said he voted for Barb Higgins — she coached his daughters in cross country, he said. He also voted in favor of the charter amendments that could restrict the school board’s autonomy and require voter approval on some decisions.

In the first two hours of voting, Ward 10 had already seen about 670 voters.

“It was a mob scene earlier,” moderator Jae Whitelaw said.

– Charlotte Matherly

Ward 4 broken ballot machine causes delays

Voters headed to the polls early on a drizzly Election Day morning.

In Concord’s Ward Four, the line stretched almost out the door of the Green Street Community Center due to a broken ballot machine slowing things down.

Anna Kelly, a librarian, said she voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president. There’s a “stark difference” between the Republican and Democratic tickets this year, she said.

She feels Harris and Walz are the candidates of “kindness and joy,” Kelly said, but her main concern is abortion – she thinks women should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies.

Kelly voted for Democrats down the ticket, including Joyce Craig for governor. She’s seen the many ads that Craig and her Republican opponent, Kelly Ayotte, have run on television.

“I can’t support someone who supports Donald Trump,” Kelly said of Ayotte.

She doesn’t have children but did look into the charter amendments to the Concord School District before marking her ballot. Kelly was split on whether to support them; she voted in favor of the first amendment – the one that would require the school board to get voter approval before moving a school – but against the other, which would require voter approval to sell any significant piece of land owned by the school district.

The scale of community impact factored into her decision, Kelly said. She felt moving a school would directly affect many people but that selling land wouldn’t.

“That felt a little less like it would impact the community at large,” Kelly said.

– Charlotte Matherly

School ballot questions

Tom Croteau, a former Concord School Board member who’s now running to be the board’s treasurer, held signs outside the Ward Four polling place urging residents to vote “no” on the proposed charter amendments.

He was involved in the decision last year to move Rundlett Middle School, which sparked community frustration and resulted in the amendments being added to Concord ballots. Croteau said the board had thought long and hard about moving the school, and he wants to uphold that decision.

Croteau said he planned to vote for Kamala Harris for president and Joyce Craig for governor but said he’s not too wound up about the governor’s race.

“Honestly, I would be happy with either,” Croteau said of Craig and the Republican candidate, Kelly Ayotte. For him, what tipped the scales toward Craig was Ayotte’s record on abortion issues.

In the school board election, he said he’d vote for current board chair Pamela Walsh and former board member Clint Cogswell.

Patsy Jeffrey, another voter, also said she voted for Cogswell and Walsh, as well as to re-elect Barb Higgins. While she felt clear about who she wanted in other political offices – like Harris for president and Democrats down the ballot – she took pause on her school board and charter amendment votes.

“That was really tough for me,” Jeffrey said, but she ended up voting in favor of both charter amendments.

– Charlotte Matherly