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''See [[early voting]] for an analysis of voting in '''swing state'''s.''

''See [[early voting]] for an analysis of voting in '''swing states'''.''

'''Swing states''' are [[state]]s in which neither the [[Republican]] nor [[Democratic]] candidate has a clear majority of the voters' support prior to a Presidential election, and therefore could "swing" the election results in either direction. They are also known as "battleground states" because they are where the majority of the campaigning takes place for both parties. Since states that consistently express a preference for either the Democratic of Republican candidate are usually referred to as [[blue state]]s and [[red state]]s, respectively, these states are also called "purple states" in order to highlight their mixed demographic nature.  '''It is expected that hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads by [[Super PAC]]s will be spent in these swing states in the fall of 2012'''. 

'''Swing states''' are [[state]]s in which neither the [[Republican]] nor [[Democratic]] candidate has a clear majority of the voters' support prior to a Presidential election, and therefore could "swing" the election results in either direction. They are also known as "battleground states" because they are where the majority of the campaigning takes place for both parties. Since states that consistently express a preference for either the Democratic of Republican candidate are usually referred to as [[blue state]]s and [[red state]]s, respectively, these states are also called "purple states" in order to highlight their mixed demographic nature.  Hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads by [[Super PAC]]s are spent in swing states.

 

 

Here are the key swing states for the [[Presidential Election 2016]]:

 

== 2012 ==

Here are the key swing states for the [[Presidential Election 2012]], for a total of 100 electoral votes, all of which were won by Obama in 2008:<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/26/national/a080145D80.DTL#ixzz1w1roz7XG</ref>

Here are the key swing states for the [[Presidential Election 2012]], for a total of 100 electoral votes, all of which were won by Obama in 2008:<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/26/national/a080145D80.DTL#ixzz1w1roz7XG</ref>