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New Hampshire votes in high-profile US primary

  • An election worker hands out stickers to voters after casting their ballots at Belmont High School on February 9, 2016 in Belmont, New Hampshire
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    An election worker hands out stickers to voters after casting their ballots at Belmont High School on February 9, 2016 in Belmont, New Hampshire
  • Final poll averages as voters headed to the polls on Tuesday
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    The New Hampshire presidential election primary

    Final poll averages as voters headed to the polls on Tuesday
  • A supporter of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump displays a campaign poster as residents vote in the first US presidential primary at a school gym in Concord, New Hampshire, on February 9, 2016
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    A supporter of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump displays a campaign poster as residents vote in the first US presidential primary at a school gym in Concord, New Hampshire, on February 9, 2016
  • Supporters of US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton display campaign posters outside the town hall as local residents vote for the first US presidential primary in Canterbury, New Hampshire, on February 9, 2016
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    Supporters of US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton display campaign posters outside the town hall as local residents vote for the first US presidential primary in Canterbury, New Hampshire, on February 9, 2016
  • A man and woman leave after casting their ballots, February 9, 2016, in Chichester, New Hampshire
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    A man and woman leave after casting their ballots, February 9, 2016, in Chichester, New Hampshire
  • A man votes in Loudon, New Hampshire
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    A man votes in Loudon, New Hampshire
An election worker hands out stickers to voters after casting their ballots at Belmont High School on February 9, 2016 in Belmont, New Hampshire
Final poll averages as voters headed to the polls on Tuesday
A supporter of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump displays a campaign poster as residents vote in the first US presidential primary at a school gym in Concord, New Hampshire, on February 9, 2016
Supporters of US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton display campaign posters outside the town hall as local residents vote for the first US presidential primary in Canterbury, New Hampshire, on February 9, 2016
A man and woman leave after casting their ballots, February 9, 2016, in Chichester, New Hampshire
A man votes in Loudon, New Hampshire
Jennie Matthew

Last-minute voters cast ballots Tuesday in the small US state of New Hampshire in the second key test of the White House race, with Donald Trump chasing victory and Hillary Clinton looking to reel in local hero Bernie Sanders. Nearly all voting stations closed, or stopped allowing voters to get in line, at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT), with a handful of locations open until 8:00 pm. Officials were predicting a record turnout, and results were expected within a few hours. Once every four years, the nation's eyes focus like laser beams on New Hampshire, which holds the first state primaries after the Iowa caucuses kick off the US presidential nomination process. The proud northeastern state, home to just 1.3 million people, sets the tone for the primaries -- and could whittle down a crowded Republican field as the arch-conservative Senator Ted Cruz and more mainstream candidates led by Senator Marco Rubio battle for second place behind frontrunner Trump. But New Hampshire's primaries are known for their surprises, leaving several candidates hopeful that they can outperform the narrative established by months of polling. In the picturesque town of Canterbury, population 2,000-3,000, sub-freezing temperatures and a thick coat of snow on the ground greeted early-risers who stopped by the town hall to vote before heading to work. David Emerson, a wood worker set up outside with a Sanders poster, said he planned to stay all day. "He's the only one that's worth supporting. Hillary makes it clear it's the same old, same old" with her, Emerson said. "Bernie talks about all the things that need to be done. Hopefully he's really creating a movement." For the past 60 years or so, most of the candidates who ended up winning the White House won their party's primary in the so-called Granite State. But tellingly, the last three presidents -- Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton -- were all elected despite losing the New Hampshire primary. A RealClearPolitics poll average shows Sanders -- who has called for nothing short of a "political revolution" -- leading 54.5 percent to 41.2 percent for Clinton in the state. Trump leads rival Republicans with 31.2 percent -- with no other candidate above 15 percent. - Last-minute picks - But everything remains in play in New Hampshire due to a high number of registered independents, who can choose to vote in either party, and the famous last-minute nature of voters here. Exit polls conducted by CNN showed that nearly half of Republican voters did not make their final decision about whom to support until the last few days. In early good news for Trump, who triggered global outrage in December when he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, exit polls reported by NBC News show 66 percent of Republican primary voters support the ban. Many voters said they were voting for Trump, the man who singlehandedly turned the 2016 presidential race on its ear with his bombast. "He seems to be speaking for the silent majority," said auto mechanic Chris Skora after voting for the real estate magnate. "A lot of us feel that way and it seems like in this day and age, we can't say these things with the PC police all around." The New York billionaire has energized broad swaths of blue-collar Americans, angry about economic difficulties and frustrated at what they see as their country losing its global stature. But Trump needs to turn his poll lead into a convincing win in New Hampshire if he is to recover from the embarrassment of finishing second behind Cruz in Iowa. "Look, you know, I like to win," Trump told MSNBC as voting got underway. "I didn't go in it to lose." The rest of the Republican pack has been fighting it out, hoping a strong showing can reinvigorate them for South Carolina and Nevada, the next stops on the long campaign trail. A poor result would likely rupture the presidential dreams for former and current governors Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie. Rubio is hoping to match or better his third-place Iowa finish, despite taking a drubbing in Saturday's debate when Christie eviscerated the first-term Florida senator for robotically repeating the same talking points. - Run for her money - On the Democratic front, Clinton is looking to confound polls that predict a large victory for her insurgent challenger Sanders, who represents neighboring Vermont in the US Senate and is big on erasing economic inequality. "You know, I just love the way New Hampshire does this," Clinton said as she and daughter Chelsea greeted cheering, sign-waving campaign volunteers at a school in Manchester, the state's largest city. She also expressed optimism about finishing strong here. "We're going to keep working literally until the last vote is cast and counted and we're going to go from there," Clinton said. Clinton won Iowa by a hair, and remains the overall favorite to win the Democratic nomination. But Sanders' strong performance shows his campaign can give the former secretary of state a run for her money deep into election season.