The electoral college is the system used in the US to elect the president. A candidate must win a majority of 538 electoral votes, so at least 270 votes must be obtained to have a majority of votes. Several states in the US always lean one way or another in the elections. For example, Democrats always win in states like New York or California, while their Republican counterparts tend to dominate in states like Texas or Louisiana. Of course there are exceptions in these states, but battleground states are the ones that vary in each election and where the race tends to be very close.

Follow AS’s live coverage of Election Day and the count in swing states

The battleground states can change too. Ohio used to be a battleground state and in the 2024 US presidential election it isn’t considered a swing state because Trump is projected to win by as much as 6 - 8 percent of the vote in the Buckeye State, according to the polls.

How many electoral votes does Pennsylvania have in the 2024 US Election?

The state of Pennsylvania has 19 electoral college votes. It has just two big cities: Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and the rest of the state is made up of rural areas and small towns. It will be a tight race in the Keystone state and those 19 electoral votes could decide the winner of the 2024 US election.

What state has the most electoral votes?

California has 54 electoral votes. The West Coast state has a population of nearly 40 million people, which gives it one elector for every 732,000 residents approx. Texas comes in second place with 40 electoral votes and Florida has 30.

What states have the least electoral votes?

The smallest states have three electoral votes each: Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. Washington, D.C., also gets three. Wyoming has the smallest population in the US with less than 600,000 people, has one elector for every 182,000 residents approx.