According to the Pine Tree State Poll, a States of Opinion Project of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Survey Center, Maine residents are divided over the House’s decision to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and the state’s current method of allocating its electoral votes.

This treaty, which Maine lawmakers approved earlier this year, will only be implemented if the total number of electoral votes represented by the signatories is at least 270, the minimum number required for a candidate to win a presidential election.

By joining this agreement, Maine’s four electoral votes could ultimately be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes nationwide, regardless of who the majority of Maine residents vote for at the ballot box.

(RELATED: Maine joins National Popular Vote Interstate Compact)

While 35 percent of Maine residents expressed support for the state’s decision to join the agreement, 37 percent opposed it.

However, when broken down by party affiliation, a clear gap emerges: 69 percent of Democrats support the pact, while 73 percent of Republicans reject it.

Among independents, 43 percent opposed Maine’s decision to join the agreement, while only 16 percent favored it. Thirty-three percent of independents said they were neutral.

Residents of Maine’s 1st and 2nd congressional districts also had sharply different opinions on the state’s decision to join the agreement.

While 41 percent of District 2 residents somewhat or strongly opposed the pact, about the same percentage (43 percent) of District 1 residents said they supported it.

Only 27 percent of Maine residents in the Second District said they somewhat or strongly support Maine’s participation in the agreement.

Respondents were also asked about their preferred method for allocating Maine’s electoral votes among the presidential candidates.

Maine is currently one of two states – along with Nebraska – that allocate their electoral votes based on congressional districts.

Under this system, the winner of each district receives one electoral vote and the overall winner receives two statewide electoral votes.

Less than half of all Maine residents (48 percent) said they would like to continue using this system, while 37 percent said they would prefer to switch to the winner-take-all system common in the rest of the country.

Democrats were less positive about Maine’s current system: Only 33 percent said they would like the state to continue using this method to allocate electoral votes. In comparison, 63 percent of Republicans and 50 percent of independents said they would like to see the state continue using this method.

In addition, residents of Maine’s Second District are more in favor of maintaining the current method of allocating electoral votes than residents of the First District.

While 53 percent of respondents in the Second District expressed support for the district-based allocation method, only 42 percent of respondents in the First District said so.

Click here to read the full survey results