With voters lining up across the country, the fate of the 2012 U.S. Presidential election now hangs in the balance. The race is close, and both President Obama and Mitt Romney have been out hitting the campaign trail garnering as much last minute support as they possibly can. After their last minute stops have finished, Romney will head to back to Boston, and Obama will stay in Chicago to await the results.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, fundraising and campaigning for the 2012 election will cost an estimated $5,800,000,000. Here’s the breakdown, by election, for how that money is spent: Presidential $2.5 billion, Congressional $1.8 billion, Parties $956 million, and $508 million from outside sources.

This interactive graphic created by Mdg looks at some of the different things this wild spending could be going to. From a small business standpoint, 139,178 people could have been hired, which would have become the full staff of at least 275 small businesses. From an education angle, it would cover the Freshmen year of nearly 60% of all teenage college applicants. From a healthcare perspective, this money could help Americans and their families pay for the minimum Obamacare tax as it increases over the years.

See where else this money could be spent in this interactive below, also see how BuzzFeed has had fun with the breakdown of these spending figures:



Interactive Infographic by MDG Advertising