A lifelong Republican from Dixville Notch in New Hampshire has become the first American to cast a ballot on election day 2020 – voting for Democrat Joe Biden. 

Voting just after the stroke of midnight on Tuesday 3 November, Les Otten continued a tradition dating back to the 1960 election of kicking off election day voting in Dixville Notch.

All the five registered voters who cast ballots at around the same time as Otten voted for Biden, according to local media.

Otten, a businessman and town "selectman" or administrator, said he was a "lifelong Republican voting for Joe Biden for president".

He told reporters that even as he doesn't "agree with [Biden] on a lot of issues", he believes "it's time to find what unites us, not what divides us." 

Otten previously contested for the governorship in Maine in 2010 but lost out in a GOP primary. 

He noted that his vote to Biden is "meant to send a message" to his fellow Republicans that their party "can find its way back". 

"It's time to return to values our conservative party has held historically dear – limited govt, balanced budget, support for working families and respect for personal rights and historically being at the forefront of racial justice dating back to when we were the party of Lincoln," said Otten.

He stated that "paradoxically" a Joe Biden presidency will allow them to "refocus on core Republican values" and they can become "the conservative party that can lead America to prosperity and greatness again."