The New Hampshire presidential primary is the first in a series of nationwide party primary elections and the second party contest, the first being the Iowa caucuses, held in the United States every four years as part of the process of choosing the delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions which choose the party nominees for the presidential elections to be held in November. Although only a few delegates are chosen in the New Hampshire primary, its real importance comes from the massive media coverage it receives, along with the first caucus in Iowa.
Saint Anselm College Quad with the "Fox-Box", from which the Fox News network reported live during the 2004 and 2008 New Hampshire primary
A historical marker in Concord on the significance of the New Hampshire primary
The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, one of the sites of the first "midnight vote" in the New Hampshire primary
Harry S. Truman remains the only incumbent president to lose the New Hampshire primary.
Each of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and territories of the United States holds either primary elections or caucuses to help nominate individual candidates for president of the United States. This process is designed to choose the candidates that will represent their political parties in the general election.
2016 presidential primary election ballots in Massachusetts
Voters checking in at a 2008 Washington State Democratic caucus held at the Nathan Eckstein Middle School in Seattle
A 2008 Washington state Democratic caucus held in the school lunchroom of Eckstein Middle School in Seattle. In some states like Washington, voters attend local meetings run by the parties instead of polling places to cast their selections.
A 2008 Democratic caucus meeting in Iowa City, Iowa. The Iowa caucuses are traditionally the first major electoral event of presidential primaries and caucuses.