Barely half of N.C. voters believe President Obama was born in the United States, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Public Policy Polling surveyed 749 North Carolina voters Aug. 4-10, and found that 54 percent believe that Obama was born in the United States. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said they do not believe Obama was born in the U.S., and 20 percent said they were not sure.

The survey found that only 24 percent of Republican voters in North Carolina believe Obama was born in the U.S.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Conservative critics of Obama contend he is not a natural-born U.S. citizen and, therefore, not eligible to be president.

The director of the health department in Hawaii, where Obama was born, has confirmed that Obama was born in Honolulu in 1961, as indicated by his birth certificate.

Public Policy Polling also asked those surveyed whether they consider Hawaii to be part of the U.S. Five percent said no, and 3 percent said they were not sure.