With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump fighting for the White House… we give you the lowdown on the state of the parties as US goes to the polls
THE map below may look like Donald Trump will walk tomorrow’s US Presidential election – but it is not as simple as that.
For the swathes of Republican red on there, it is the blue of Democrat Hillary Clinton that, while comparatively sparse, leaves her on the brink of moving into the White House.
Just as in Britain, it is not necessarily the person or party with the most votes across the country that decides the President.
Instead, the 50 states vote in an “electoral college” made up of a fixed number of delegates relative to the state’s population.
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Not all are equal. California, for example, has 55 delegates – some of whom will be attached to Clinton, others to Trump – and Idaho four.
In all but two states – Maine and Nebraska, which each have their own, complicated system – winner takes all. So if Clinton wins 51 per cent of the vote in California, she secures all 55 electoral college votes.
There are a total of 538 electoral college votes up for grabs and, as experts last night projected, Clinton is only four away from the 270 needed.
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But it could all come down to the “swing” states, where polling is neck-and-neck. Clinton and Trump will be looking to Ohio in particular, as voters there have chosen the candidate who went on to win the presidency in every election since 1964.
Latest polls in Ohio put Trump 3.3 per cent points up on Clinton.
If the result boils down to the age, race, gender and education of the voters, again it could go either way.
Polling shows that men and whites largely back Trump, while women and ethnic minorities support Clinton.
The race is so tight because both candidates are so unpopular.
Trump's combative style of debate and provocative polices alienate almost as many as they win over according to pollsters. The controversies that have repeatedly surfaced during his campaign, such as the infamous “Trump tapes”, have also distanced him from key groups of voters.
Clinton has long been considered untrustworthy by the vast majority of Americans and is viewed as the embodiment of the "establishment", having been First Lady, a Senator and Secretary of State. Polls show that the latest email scandal has rocked her already shaky presidential campaign.
We in all likelihood won't now the outcome until well into the day on November 9 but one thing is for certain: this most controversial and unpredictable presidential race looks set to go right down to the wire.