CHARLESTON, W.Va. —  President Bush holds a slight lead over Democrat John Kerry (search) in West Virginia, 47 percent to 43 percent, with independent Ralph Nader (search) at 2 percent, according to a poll released Friday.

Another 8 percent of voters were undecided.

Although West Virginia's voter registration is 2-to-1 Democratic, Bush won West Virginia in 2000 by 6 percentage points.

In the poll, Bush was tied with Kerry in two regions of the state — in the Charleston/Huntington area and the Monongahela River Valley and led in two other regions — the Appalachian Highlands and the Ohio River valley. Kerry led Bush in the southwest part of the state.

Bush is attracting more independent voters, 42 percent, compared to 35 percent for Kerry and 9 percent for Nader.

The poll of 984 registered voters was conducted April 26-29 by Ipsos Public Affairs for The Associated Press, the Charleston Daily Mail and WSAZ-TV. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.