Most states have a history of voting for a particular party and the presidential candidates will count on their votes again. This leaves a handful of states where the election will be decided. These are the election battlegrounds.

Presidential elections are run using an electoral college. Each state is given a number of votes based on its population. This means some states are worth much more than others.

For example, California (population 37.7 million) has 55 votes, while a more rural state like Montana (population one million) has only three votes. The presidential candidate who wins in a state wins all that state's college votes.*

You need 270 votes to become president.

Click to see party strongholds

Battlegrounds (151 votes) - In these states the race is close enough that either candidate could win. These "purple states" are where the campaigns will focus their time and money.

Republican strongholds (191 votes) - The "red states" belonging to the Republicans dominate the south and the mid-west but many of these are rural states with few electoral votes.

Democratic strongholds (196 votes) - The "blue states" held by the Democrats in the north-east and on the west coast are strongly urban with larger populations and more electoral votes.