Safe State vs. Swing State
Ben Mason
Eng.1001 sect. 38
9/26/12
The Voting Playground:
Play it safe? Or swing? This is a concern that arises for presidential candidates every four years as we
approach presidential elections. First, there are two terms to be recognized: “safe state” and “swing state”. In a
“safe state” the presidential candidate of a particular party has the vast majority of support of that state 's voters,
regularly, so that he/she can safely assume the favorable outcome of the state 's electoral college votes. Some
well-known safe states are California for democrats, and Texas for republicans. On the contrary, there are states
that are not like safe states and no single candidate or party has overwhelming support of the votes. These are
called “swing states” or “battleground states”. Some examples of swing states of this election are Florida, Iowa,
Colorado, and others.
In the voting world, the president is decided through representative votes by the states. This is called the
electoral college. A presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the election. For 48 states, it is a
winner-takes-all election which means that whichever candidate receives a majority of the popular vote, or a
plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate), takes all of the state 's
electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that use a proportional vote system. In these states, there
could be a split of electoral votes among candidates.(Dugan) The electoral college plays a huge role on the topic
of safe states and swing states by effecting the behaviors of presidential candidates. For instance, safe states that
are known to vote a certain way will not receive near as much attention or campaigning as swing states during
the times close to elections. This is why candidates fight over swing states that may only have as little as 4
electoral votes, instead
Eng.1001 sect. 38
9/26/12
The Voting Playground:
Play it safe? Or swing? This is a concern that arises for presidential candidates every four years as we
approach presidential elections. First, there are two terms to be recognized: “safe state” and “swing state”. In a
“safe state” the presidential candidate of a particular party has the vast majority of support of that state 's voters,
regularly, so that he/she can safely assume the favorable outcome of the state 's electoral college votes. Some
well-known safe states are California for democrats, and Texas for republicans. On the contrary, there are states
that are not like safe states and no single candidate or party has overwhelming support of the votes. These are
called “swing states” or “battleground states”. Some examples of swing states of this election are Florida, Iowa,
Colorado, and others.
In the voting world, the president is decided through representative votes by the states. This is called the
electoral college. A presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the election. For 48 states, it is a
winner-takes-all election which means that whichever candidate receives a majority of the popular vote, or a
plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate), takes all of the state 's
electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that use a proportional vote system. In these states, there
could be a split of electoral votes among candidates.(Dugan) The electoral college plays a huge role on the topic
of safe states and swing states by effecting the behaviors of presidential candidates. For instance, safe states that
are known to vote a certain way will not receive near as much attention or campaigning as swing states during
the times close to elections. This is why candidates fight over swing states that may only have as little as 4
electoral votes, instead
Cited: Larcinese, Valentino. “Allocating the U.S. Federal Budget to the States.” The Journal of Politics. Wiley Library., 27 Apr 2006. Web. Vol. 68 May 2006 Gruber, Jonathan. “Rural Favor and Polls” Hastings Center Report. Wiley Library., 8 Feb 2012., Sep,Oct 2006 Politico.org., “News, Analysis, Candidates, and Polls.” Real Clear Polls. Swing state view., Sep 26 2012 archive.fairvote.org/e_college.htm., “Maine and Nebraska.” “Center for voting and Democracy.”, copyright 2002., Dec 10 2009 Dugan, Andrew. Gallup.com/poll/swingstate.htm., “Swing State Voters.” Washington D.C., “Race Track 2012” Sep 9 2012