Voters in US state of Michigan evenly split on Harris, Trump: Poll

WASHINGTON

American voters in Michigan are evenly split between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican contender former President Donald Trump, according to a Washington Post poll released Thursday.

The battleground state remains a toss-up in the final week of the election slated for next Tuesday.

The poll shows registered voters in the state divided at 47% for Trump and 45% for Harris. Among likely voters, the figures shift slightly, with Harris leading with 47% to Trump’s 46%.

Both margins fall within the poll’s margin of error of 3.7 percentage points, leaving the race too close to call.

With 15 Electoral votes, Michigan, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, formed a “blue wall” for President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are the six other key swing states in the election, which are pivotal because the US does not directly elect its presidents.

Instead, the process plays out via the Electoral College, where 538 representatives cast their ballots in line with their state outcomes.

Either candidate needs to secure 270 Electoral College votes to claim victory. Electors are allocated to states based on their population, and most states give all of their electors to whichever candidate wins the state in the general vote.

The winner-take-all model is not used in Nebraska and Maine, however, which instead allocate their votes proportionally based on their final outcomes.

Election Day -- including presidential and congressional elections -- is set for Nov. 5.