The New Hampshire primary, the first in a series of presidential primary elections across the US and the second party contest, is currently underway in the Granite State.
Residents from the Northeastern state of New Hampshire began casting their votes on Tuesday morning to choose the party nominees for the presidential elections to be held in November.
A poll released on the eve of the New Hampshire primary gives Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders a 26 point lead over party front-runner Hillary Clinton.
According to the CNN/WMUR tracking poll, Sanders received 61 percent of the vote, to Clinton’s 35 percent.
Sanders has long been critical of US income inequality as well as US foreign policy. He was an early opponent of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The self-described socialist candidate is also an outspoken critic of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system and mass surveillance policies.
On the Republican side, leading party contender Donald Trump has a wide lead with 31 percent support among New Hampshire voters.
He is followed by Marco Rubio, who earned 17 percent support, Ted Cruz at 14 percent, John Kasich at 10 percent and Jeb Bush at 7 percent.
Last week, Cruz won the Iowa GOP caucuses, while Clinton won the Democratic caucuses, narrowly beating Sanders. Clinton won the Iowa contest by the narrowest margin in state history.