Donald Trump vs Joe Biden: Swing states and their role in US Election 2020

With a week left fortheUS elections,the two leaders — the current Republican candidate and PresidentDonald Trumpand his Democrat rival and former Vice PresidentJoe Biden— have started the last eg of election campaigning and are also covering the states which hold a minority of their party support.

The American voters have created history with more than 70 million voters casting ballot a week before the November 03 elections — a number that could lead to the highest voter turnout in percentage terms in more than a century. As of now, the opinion polls are showing Joe Biden to be the frontrunner, but realistically speaking both the leaders have a fair chance of winning.

The United States has a total of 50 states out of which few hold more importance than the rest. These states are called "swing states" — also known as "battlegrounds" informally.In the elections this year, these states comprise of 15 major states. These result for these states cannot be determined as of now as the states work in a balance and can lead to eitherTrumporBidenwinning the claim on the White House for the next four years.

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The rest of the states are ones which have, in a way, already established their winner. Places such asNew York and California are the areas where Trumpcannot secure a win, while he can be crowned as undefeated in the Republican majority states such asAlabama or Oklahoma.

A swing states thi year is Arizona. The state has only voted for one Democrat — Bill Clinton(in 1996) — since 1952. In 2016,Donald Trumpwon this state with a margin of four percent. However, the state has seen a radical shift in its political atmosphere since 2016, and thusBidenalso has a chance of winning the state this year.

Colarodo and Florida are the next two swing states with Colarodo having elected three Republican candidates and three Democrats in the past six years. Last time in 2016,Hillary Clintonhas won the state in opposition to the ultimate winner,Donald Trump.Florida, too, has been one of the most unpredictable states in the history of the US elections.Trump, in 2016, won the election by1.19 per cent andBarack Obama by0.88 per cent in 2012.

Georgia is another state which has usually favoured Republicans but has also helpedBill Clintonback in 1992. The recet political scenario is taking a shift which can change the results in the upcoming elections.

States such as Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Minnesota,Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolinahave supportedBidenin the past and will be critical in the upcoming elections as the voters have been tad bit undecided this year. Texas has been a Trump supporter for the last four years. However,Bidenhas been putting in extra efforts to woo the Texas voters. However, Trump supporters have been vocal in upporting him this year too.

Each candidate's aim is to secure 270electoral votes, and each state's victory will put them a step closer to the swearing ceremony due in January 2021 at the White House.

The sudden shifts and the undecisive nature of the voters has been majorly due to the mail-in voting that has been adopted majorly by a lot of states this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The results of this year's elections can be delayed — a warning often highlighted byTrump.