Thanks to the Electoral College system, winning the White House has come down to a battle for just nine states, where nearly all the money for campaign advertisements has been spent so far.

Twenty years ago, the nation had 33 states up for grabs between the Democrat and Republican seeking the presidency.

Now, only nine states—Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and North Carolina—are considered competitive.

This concentration of competitive states explains why 93% of the $746 million spent to date on TV ads (or $697 million) has gone into so few states.

These hotly-contested states contain less than 25% of all American voters.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Fewer Contested States Than in Past Presidential Elections (by Thomas Beaumont, Associated Press)

Ohio Blasted with more than 2,600 Political Ads a Day…and Growing (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Americans Overwhelmingly Want to End Electoral College by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)