In this presidential election season the media has focused heavily on “Key Battleground States”, or must win states. Allot of this focus in the media has targeted the all important “swing vote” as the time to election nears. Recent polls still indicate that swing voters play heavily into the outcome of this election. What exactly are the “Battleground States” and what exactly are the key issues in those states and where are they geographically? Recently, Scientific American Online published a map of the key battleground states, outlining key issues, state ballot issues, number of votes and current poll standing of the two presidential nominees.

The map at first glance is pretty basic. There is no discernable content except green colored states highlighting the primary battle ground states that the candidates’ campaigns are focusing. Where the information really differs from other maps is the data that is available when a user hovers over a state on the map. A pop up appears at the bottom that describes who carried the state in the 2004 election, current poll data indicating who is leading, the primary issue for the state and ballot referendums to be voted on this election.

I like the fact this map goes beyond the typical ho-hum who is favored maps that are out there and displays information that is pertinent and different. As a political junky and avid news follower I love finding maps that tell me something different or outline the same story from a different perspective. This map demonstrates what the different battleground states are looking for in a candidate and the different important issues that exist geographically. This data could have been summarized non geographically, but the map lends a different dimension to it as it ties place and location into the key election issues.

As we have seen from previous posts, maps are becoming a big deal in the election coverage. Maps like this one, while simple, play an important role in disseminating information to the public.

Check it out at Scientific American’s website. As I have said in previous postings please feel free to leave me your thoughts or interpretations in the comments, and please check back as I will be adding additional content to this series soon.