The Electoral College

270 EC votes to win the presidency. States have set EC vote amounts.

242 votes have been won consistently by Democrats since 1992. This means Democrat Hillary Clinton has an easier path to 270. THIS ELECTION 179 votes from 13 likely Democratic states: Washington DC, California, Vermont, Maryland, New York, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Washington state, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Oregon, Connecticut, Illinois.

184 votes from 16 competitive states: Maine, Delaware, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Iowa, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Georgia.

175 votes from 22 likely Rebublican states: Alaska, Texas, Arizona, Montana, Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Missouri, South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Utah, Idaho, Kentucky, South Dakota, Tennessee, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Alabama, Oklahoma, West Virginia. Prediction time: New York Times 70% Dem; FiveThirtyEight 53% Dem; Princeton Election Consortium 83% Dem; PredictWise 69% Dem. BATTLE GROUND STATES The big prizes in play: Florida (29 votes) A quarter of Floridians are Hispanic, a heavily Democratic voting bloc. Donald Trump won well in the primaries against Florida Senator, Marco Rubio, and has a home there.

Pennsylvania (20) Democrats have won this for decades — the last five elections. The latest polls show Clinton leading by 9 points. Trump is targeting struggling towns and old coal mining areas.

Ohio (16) Bill Clinton won Ohio twice. The state’s Republican Governor, John Kasich, hasn’t endorsed Trump and avoided the Cleveland convention. Some parts of the state could warm to Trump’s rhetoric on trade. Other states to watch: North Carolina (15) Known in recent times as the state that banned transgender bathrooms. Clinton will be able to count on a sizable black population. Mitt Romney won in 2012.

Virginia (13) Clinton’s runningmate, Senator Tim Kaine, is from Virginia and the state’s Governor Terry McAuliffe is an old friend. Local political scientist Dr Larry Sabato thinks the Kaine pick makes the state safer for Clinton. The northern area has many highly educated voters who tend to dislike Trump. But he should do better in the rural regions.

Wisconsin (10) Has voted Democrat for more than 25 years. But the state is home to highprofile Republican officials — Governor Scott Walker, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and party chairman Reince Priebus.

Colorado (9) The state, which is 20 per cent Hispanic, has been Democrat in the last two elections.

Iowa ( 6) Democrats have won six of the last seven elections. It has evangelical voters.

New Hampshire (4) Gave Trump his first primary victory. Clinton lost to Bernie Sanders.