President Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney are knotted at 48 percent of likely voters in a new poll of New Hampshire released Saturday. The Granite State poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, showed President Obama up 9 points in its previous survey completed Oct. 22nd. 

“The movement of Independents to Romney is the most significant factor in his making this race a dead heat,” said Andrew Smith, Director of the UNH Survey Center said in a statement. “Two weeks ago, independents were divided in who they would support.” From their analysis:

Obama has lost considerable support since 2008 as only 87% of 2008 Obama voters say they will vote for him this time while 94% of McCain voters say they will vote for Romney...

Both candidates have secured their bases -- Obama currently has the support of 95% of New Hampshire Democrats, and Romney has the support of 95% of Republicans. Independents are breaking heavily to Romney -- 54% say they will vote for Romney while only 32% say they will vote for Obama. 

The PollTracker Average still shows the president with a lead in New Hampshire.

The New Hampshire poll used 502 interviews with likely voters by live telephone on landlines and cell-phones conducted Oct. 31-Nov. 2. It has a sampling error of 4.4 percent.