New Hamphire independents are driving the elections in New Hampshire and they're driving up the numbers for Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, according to exclusive FOX News exit polling.

Early exit polling of Republicans showed McCain with 35 percent compared to 30 percent for Mitt Romney and 13 percent for Mike Huckabee. Of those voting in the Democratic primary, 41 percent were going for Obama, while 34 percent were going for Hillary Clinton and John Edwards was at 18 percent.

Polling taken at New Hampshire's busy polling precincts showed 61 percent of voters identified themselves as independents -- more than 40 percent of the state's electorate -- were voting in the Democratic primary, while 39 percent were choosing to vote in the GOP contest.

On the Republican side, independents were going for McCain over Romney, 37 percent to 26 percent. Among registered Republicans, voters were so far going for McCain over Romney by a slimmer margin, 35 percent to 32 percent.

Change, as it was in the Iowa caucuses last week, remained the biggest issue for Democrats voting in the primary, and among those Democrats who said change is their major issue, Obama won 58 percent over Clinton with 22 percent.

Also like Iowa, Obama is big with younger voters, attracting those under 30 by a 22 percent margin over Clinton. Late deciders -- those who decided their vote in the last three days -- were split between Obama and Clinton.

But unlike Iowa, women were coming out strong for Clinton --  47 percent to 37  percent for Obama.  Single women went for Clnton by a 14-point margin. Men, on the other hand, were coming out for Obama.

On the GOP side, most voters said they were looking for the candidate who shared their values as the primary issue driving their vote -- similar results were found among Iowa voters. Of this group, Romney was winning, 41 percent, followed by Huckabee with 22 percent and Ron Paul with 15 percent. McCain follows up the pack with 14 percent.

For those who said illegal immigration was the most important issue for them, Romney was ahead, 51 percent to 18 percent, while those who said the war in Iraq was most important, McCain was their guy, 43 percent to 26 percent.

Voters also seemed to think McCain would fare better than Romney in the general election against Obama or Clinton, 39 percent to 31 percent.

 As for gender, New Hampshire Democratic women were voting for Clinton over Obama, 40 percent to 36 percent. 

Those Democratic voters making less than $50,000 a year were going for Clinton over Obama, 39 percent to 32 percent, while those making more than $50,000 were preferring Obama.

Other findings: Two-thirds of Republicans approve of the job President George Bush is doing, and of those voters, they prefer Romney.

 Over a third of Democratic voters said the economy is "extremely important" to them, and they were voting for Clinton over Obama, 35 percent over 35 percent.

As opposed to Iowa, where more than 60 percent of voters called themselves evangelical Christians, and went for Huckabee in large margins, fewer than one in five New Hampshire Republicans consider themselves Evangelicals.

Romney was winning with seniors over 71 while McCain was doing better with the younger set. Younger voters under 30  were going for Obama over Clinton 55 percent to 23 percent.