The electoral map

States with their respective electoral college votes — 270 votes are needed to win

Click here to download the map which featured in the US Election supplement.

Nevada:This has been the fastest- growing state in the union since the second world war. McCain used to have a comfortable lead here but with almost half of voters saying that the economy is the most important issue, Obama has surged. McCain needs this state to come back into his column before election day.

Colorado: The Rocky Mountain west is regarded as the emerging battleground of American politics. The Democrats cleverly decided to hold their convention in Denver, winning acres of positive local press coverage and since the convention, Obama has begun to pull away. But McCain is hoping that his status as a western Senator helps him here, while his work on immigration reform could help keep down Obama’s margin among the state’s Hispanic voters.

Missouri: The state has famously voted for the winner of every presidential election since 1960. McCain was polling strongly here and needs to win the Show-me State to reach 270. But this is another state where Obama has been the political beneficiary of the economic troubles. Black turnout in St Louis and Kansas City could be key.

Indiana: Another traditionally Republican state where Obama, with his vast campaign resources, is on the offensive — he has 43 campaign offices here. If Indiana goes Democratic, this could be a landslide.

Ohio: The state that won it for Bush in 2004 is again being fiercely contested. The state’s economic troubles are helping Obama but as the Democratic primary here showed the state’s blue-collar voters are far from convinced by him. Another plus for McCain is that Palin has energised the evangelical vote, the bloc whose huge turnout took Bush to victory here in 2004.

New Hampshire: The Granite State is becoming steadily more Democratic — it was the only state to switch from the Republicans to the Democrats in 2004. But McCain won impressive primary victories here in 2000 and 2008, helped by support from the state’s independent voters. Indeed, McCain’s strength among independents was one of the reasons that Obama lost the New Hampshire primary to Hillary Clinton.

Virginia: It is very hard to see how McCain reaches  270 without Virginia’s 13 electoral college votes. But most recent polls show Obama leading in the Old Dominion. Demographic trends in the state, which has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1968, are pushing it towards the Democrats and Obama, with his appeal in upscale northern Virginia and his ability to increase black turnout, is well placed to flip it.

North Carolina: If Obama wins here it will suggest that this is a re-alignment election. North Carolina is emblematic of the new South and if it goes Democratic it will indicate that the party is on the verge of forming a new governing majority.

Florida: So close in 2000, Florida was expected to be relatively easy for McCain because of his military roots in the state and Obama’s difficulties with the state’s Jewish and Cuban voters. But the financial crisis and the Palin pick have given Obama an edge in what is a must-win state for McCain.