Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris enter Election Day with a razor-thin lead that separates them into the handful of states that will ultimately decide the winner.

The Election 2024 The map bears some similarities to the landscape Trump encountered in 2020 as he defended the White House against a challenge from Joe Biden.

Trump hopes to win back states he captured in 2016 when he broke through the Democrats' “blue wall” en route to the presidency. Harris hopes to retain the states that Mr. Biden won, which would give her a comfortable victory in the Electoral College.

The 2020 Electoral College map

In 2020, Mr. Biden won 81,284,666 votes nationwide, compared to 74,224,319 votes for Trump.

But the presidency is won in the Electoral College, not by a popular vote. Mr Biden has outperformed Trump in this regard too. won 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. To win the White House, a majority in the Electoral College – 270 votes – is required.

The Biden campaign formed a coalition that helped him recapture the once reliably blue states that Trump toppled in 2016 and bring Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania back into the Democratic fold. He also picked up Arizona and Georgia to consolidate his victory.

This map shows the states Trump and Mr Biden won in 2020:

For 2024, CBS News expects seven states Battleground states That will largely decide the race. These states are:

• Arizona
• Georgia
• Michigan
• Nevada
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Wisconsin

Pennsylvania 19 electoral votes make it biggest prize of the evening – a win there will make it much easier for both candidates to win the necessary 270 electoral votes.

How the electoral map has changed since 2020

The Electoral College Votes are divided based on each state's representation in Congress. Each state gets at least three votes – one for each of its two senators and one for each representative in the House of Representatives. (This gives smaller states an outsized influence on the outcome, since a state like Wyoming or Vermont is guaranteed to be allocated more electoral votes than it would receive if they were apportioned strictly by population.) The District of Columbia also gets three votes, although Residents do not have the right to vote for members in Congress.

Electoral votes are reallocated every 10 years as states gain or lose seats in the House of Representatives based on their fluctuating populations. These determinations are based on U.S. Census results. If a state's population increases compared to other states, it could gain a seat or two. If the population decreases, a seat could be moved to another location.

In the 2024 race, six states won electoral votes: Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon each received one and Texas received two. In turn, seven states lost a vote: California, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Here's a look at where states have gained and lost Electoral College votes since 2020: