It's only a matter of hours before the nation's first primary voters emerge — Punxsutawney Phil style — to cast their votes at the stroke of midnight in Dixville Notch, a tiny hamlet tucked away in a mountain pass of northern New Hampshire just 20 miles south of the Canadian border. The determined troupe of 17 local voters will file into the cozy "Ballot Room" of the old Balsams ski lodge to exercise their rights before an international press eager for some quaint Americana.

But their first-in-the-nation status does not much faze the live-free-or-die crowd up in Dixville.

"Yeah, the joint's jumping around here, alright. I typically do interviews with overseas journalists, like from Russia and Japan. And the American press treats us pretty fairly," said Rick Irwin, the town clerk in a town which only numbers 74.

Curious about the political makeup? Twelve of the Dixville voters are independents, two are Democrats and five are Republicans.

They are quite sure of their spot in the civic landscape, though.

"People have a sense of history about this," Mr. Irwin said. "This is hallowed ground. There may be only a few of us, but we all understand this tradition, this privilege. There seems to be a special aura around the first votes of the primary."

The Ballot Room itself is a wood paneled boite, measuring about 20 feet x 30 feet. Oh, and there's a ballot box in it. The Dixville voters decide who goes first by drawing names out of a hat, or a chamber pot — as was done in 2004.

"Once, I got to go first," Mr. irwin added. "It was truly overwhelming."

— Jennifer Harper, national reporter, The Washington Times