LOS ANGELES TIMES: Reporting from Manchester, N.H.—
The polls are open through most of New Hampshire, where a record turnout is forecast for the nation's first presidential primary.
New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, overseeing his ninth presidential primary, estimated that a quarter of a million ballots could be cast in the GOP race, which would exceed the nearly 240,000 ballots cast four years ago.
Pre-election surveys suggest that Mitt Romney has an insurmountable lead, but a fierce battle was nonetheless waged in the final days as other candidates fought to beat expectations in anticipation of the next primary in South Carolina.
The final Suffolk University tracking poll saw Romney ticking up four percentage points in the final day. He led Ron Paul 37%-18%.
A win for Romney would be unprecedented in this respect: No Republican has ever won both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Romney's eight-vote advantage in Iowa has not yet been certified, though GOP officials there said they didn't expect the result to change.
In his closing argument to voters Monday night, Romney said he wanted a more convincing win here.
"You're going to make a statement tomorrow," he said at a rally in Bedford. "Give me the boost I need." » | Michael A. Memoli | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
