Why are swing states important in this U.S. election?

• The U.S. presidential election is set for November 5, with around 24.4 crore eligible voters.
• The election will be decided by a few thousand voters in key battleground or swing states, due to the unique features of the electoral system.
• In 2020, President Joe Biden led over Donald Trump by around 70 lakh votes, but the small margins with which he won key states were more significant.
• In 2016, Donald Trump trailed Hillary Clinton by two percentage points, but could still emerge as the winner due to his win in key swing states.
• The winner of the U.S. presidential contest is selected by a majority in the electoral college of 538, which is 270.
• The “winner-takes-it-all” system in most U.S. states allots all electors to the candidate who gets more popular votes.
• The main opponents, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, are trying to turn the battleground States in their favor in the last lap of campaigning ahead of election day.
• The contest between the two candidates is a dead heat, with the average polling error for more than five decades in the U.S. being 3.4%.
• Both candidates are trying to tailor their messages, particularly targeting these States, such as Latinos, Blacks, and Muslims.
• In the last stretch, there will be further concentration of firepower by both sides on the small numbers that count as big in the elections.