Election Day 2012 is just one day away, and the presidential electoral vote situation is still up in the air.
Two leading vote-tracking maps—by USA TODAY and The Washington Post—report that neither President Obama nor GOP nominee Mitt Romney can claim the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the election, based on so-called committed states.
How do you think the election will shake out? Will it be deadlocked like in 2000? Tell us in the comments below.
A vote tracking map by the Huffington Post gives Obama 277 electoral votes—down from more than 300 in a posting in September, before the debates.
A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. If a candidate receives the majority of a particular state's popular vote, he gets ALL of that state's electoral votes. In other words, the nationwide popular vote is not necessarily the deciding factor.
The importance of this was shown in the 2000 presidential election. Democrat Al Gore got more popular votes nationwide than did George W. Bush. However, a Supreme Court decision said that Bush won that ultra-close election because Florida's electoral votes gave him the necessary winning total.
In the close 2012 election, a few swing states, such as Ohio and Virginia, are expected to decide the outcome.
Electoral vote tracking sites:
2012 Election: Electoral Vote Tracker - USATODAY.com
Presidential Election Map 2012 - The Washington Post
The current view of the 2012 presidential election - Huffington Post
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