Six swing states are set to decide the results of the US elections

About 240 million people are eligible to cast their votes in the US elections scheduled for this year, but only a relatively small number of them are likely to decide the question of who becomes the next president.

Experts believe that there are only a few states that Democratic President Joe Biden or his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, could win.

Six of them – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – appear to be on the brink and may hold the key to who will take over the White House.

Therefore, both parties are campaigning intensively to win the support of undecided voters in these states.

Biden won the presidency in 2020 with the support of the Grand Canyon State, which narrowly voted to support a Democratic candidate for the first time since the 1990s.

This state lies on the border with Mexico for hundreds of miles, and has become a focal point in the country's immigration debate. The number of arrivals at the US border has reached record levels while Biden is in office, giving him a major election headache. Border crossings have declined in recent months, but he has tightened his position and made plans to activate border closures when crossings increase.

Trump has repeatedly attacked his rival's record on immigration, and pledged to carry out the “largest deportation operation” in US history if he returns to the presidency.

Arizona was also host to a bitter row over abortion access, after Republicans in the state tried to reimpose a near-total 160-year-old ban on termination of pregnancy. It has become an explosive issue nationwide since 2022 when the US Supreme Court overturned a landmark ruling that gave women the constitutional right to an abortion.

Our list of swing states closely matches the list of places where Trump-backed Republican officials tried to thwart Biden's 2020 election victory. And in Georgia, alleged election interference landed Trump in one of his four criminal cases.

He and 18 others are accused of conspiring to overturn his narrow defeat to Biden in the state. He denies any wrongdoing, and it seems unlikely that the case will be heard in court before the election.

However, it remains to be seen whether Trump's legal troubles will hurt him at the ballot box. We may find out soon, after his trial on bribery charges ended in a guilty verdict.

Georgia has one of the highest proportions of African Americans among its population at 33%, and this demographic is believed to have played an integral role in Biden flipping the state in 2020. However, disillusionment has been reported among black voters in America, with some saying Not enough is being done to combat racial injustice or improve the economy.

The Great Lakes State has chosen the winning presidential candidate in the last two elections. Despite Biden's support in 2020, it has become a symbol of the nationwide backlash over the president's support for Israel during that country's war in Gaza.

During Michigan's Democratic primary in February, more than 100,000 voters chose the “noncompliant” option on their ballots, following a campaign by activists who want the US government to support a ceasefire in Gaza and halt its military aid to Israel.

Notably, Michigan has the largest percentage of Arab Americans in the country, a demographic whose support for Biden appears to be at risk.

Trump has highlighted the state's importance on his potential path to victory. Commenting on events in the Middle East, he called on Israel to end its campaign against Hamas in Gaza, but to “end it quickly.”

The Silver State has voted Democratic in the last several elections, but there are signs of a possible shift by Republicans. Recent averages published by polling tracker 538 suggested Trump had a healthy lead over Biden there. Both men are vying to win over the state's large Latino population.

Despite the fact that the US economy has shown strong growth and job creation since Biden took office, the post-Covid recovery has been slower in Nevada than elsewhere.

The state has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.1%, after California and the District of Columbia, according to the latest US government statistics.

If Trump wins power again, he has pledged to return to an agenda of cutting taxes across the board and reducing regulation.

Pennsylvanians are not unique among Americans in feeling cost-of-living pressures from inflation. But grocery prices rose faster in her state than in any other, according to market information provider Datasembly.

The BBC recently reported on how people were struggling to cope in Erie – a leading county relative to the rest of Pennsylvania, where as many as one in eight people are “food insecure”.

The state proved pivotal in the 2020 election, supporting Biden in his successful bid for the White House. He has a deep emotional connection to the working-class city of Scranton, where he grew up.

High inflation could hurt Biden across the United States, where polls suggest it gives voters a negative view of the economy.

Trump has sought to attack his opponent over persistently high prices. But he faces his own challenges in Pennsylvania after the relatively strong performance of his Republican primary opponent, Nikki Haley, there.

The Badger State also chose the winning presidential candidate in both 2016 and 2020, by just over 20,000 votes each time.

Critics have suggested that in marginal states like these there can be influence by third-party candidates campaigning against the policies of major candidates.

Polls have indicated that a large show of support for an independent like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who is struggling to get on the ballot in Wisconsin and other states — could hurt vote results for Biden or Trump.

Trump described that state as “really important… If we win Wisconsin, we win the whole thing.” The summer Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee.

Biden recently pointed to a new Microsoft data center headed to Wisconsin as evidence of how he will create new jobs; Under the pretext that his predecessor was unable to fulfill his pledges.