Making Light, the blog co-edited by Boing Boing's community manager Teresa Nielsen Hayden, was among the first sites apparently the first news/media/blog/whatever entity to publish voting totals from a district that's reported in for the 2008 US presidential elections. TNH explains:
It's a silly distinction, but it's the best we can do with our far-flung staff of reporters. That is to say: our co-blogger Jim Macdonald lives just a few miles from Dixville Notch, NH. It's the home of The Balsams, a surviving grand resort hotel from the 19th C. They've got less than two dozen registered voters up there, and New Hampshire law says that if every registered voter in a town has voted, they can shut down the polls and announce their results.
Every four years, The Balsams starts voting at the stroke of midnight on Election Day. Everyone gets their own voting booth. They finish and count up as quickly as possible, and are always the first district in the country to report in. Jim Macdonald was up there tonight with his laptop, waiting to hit "publish" as soon as they announced their numbers. By the way:
Obama: 15
McCain: 6
Minutes by which Making Light beat CNN: 5A few links:
The emphatic "first in the nation" historic marker: one, two.
Old photos of The Balsams. The last time ML did this (with photos).
Live From The Balsams 2–Electric Boogaloo (Making Light)
