The fight in New Hampshire: The next US Republican primary

Concord/Washington. The next primary election in New Hampshire is today in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race, the polls in the small northeastern US state are now a battle between former US President Donald Trump and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

In nationwide polls, Trump is leading Haley. But the gap in New Hampshire is significantly narrower: The 52-year-old, who as a diplomat once had to represent Trump's foreign policy on the international stage, expects a strong result.

Anyone who wants to run for president in the United States must first win the internal party primaries. Candidates are officially selected at party conventions in the summer. The actual presidential election takes place in early November.

The first Republican primary was decided in Iowa in mid-January. Trump won by a larger margin than DeSantis and Haley. Although voting takes place at caucuses in Iowa, now for the first time in New Hampshire the classic vote is taking place at the polls. German time, they only close at night.

Democrats are also voting — without Biden on the ballot

New Hampshire will also vote for the Democratic presidential nominee. However, incumbent Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term, is not on the ballot. The background was an internal dispute: The Democratic Party wanted to move the opening of the primary election series to South Carolina – a state with a more diverse electorate – to give black voters a bigger stage. Voting will be held there on February 3. However, New Hampshire did not want to lose its status as the first primary election state and insisted on its early voting date.

Biden stuck to party lines and did not appear on the ballot in New Hampshire. Only largely unknown candidates who have no chance due to lack of celebrity are listed there. As it stands, Biden has no serious competition anyway.

Fake Biden's call sparks new concern about AI fakes

The day before the vote, Biden's fake campaign calls caused a stir in New Hampshire — and fueled fears that the election results could be manipulated with the help of artificial intelligence. In the automated call, a voice that sounded disconcertingly like Biden's called on Democrats in the state not to participate in the primary election there. Such so-called robocalls are a common election campaign tool in the US, but the increasing prevalence of AI applications brings with it new risks.

According to New Hampshire's Attorney General's Office, the sender information on the calls was also false.

Artificial intelligence-based software can be trained to pronounce arbitrary sentences using the voices of specific individuals using audio recordings. There are concerns about the possibility of using the software to create targeted images – and now short videos – with any content. Until now, errors were mostly apparent in artificially generated images, but technology is improving rapidly.