Swing states

The US presidential election could hinge on about a dozen so-called swing states where the contest between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump is particularly tight. The victor must get to the magic number of 270 Electoral College votes -- but just trying to anticipate the result is a complicated exercise in adding, subtracting and combining. A total of 538 electoral votes are in play, corresponding to the total number of elected representatives in Congress (435 members of the House and 100 senators) plus three for the US capital Washington, DC. Those who win a state's popular vote are apportioned the state's electors, the number of which is roughly in line to the size of its population. Here's a list of the major swing states, the number of electoral votes and the averages of recent polls and who won the state in the last two elections: