Electoral College Map 2012: Obama's Lead Shrinks By 18 Electoral Votes

President Barack Obama's projected lead over Mitt Romney on the Electoral College map has narrowed slightly with exactly one week to go before Election Day on Nov. 6.

Just one day ago, on Monday, The Huffington Post's data analysis projected Obama had 277 electoral votes safely leaning his way, which would have been enough to send him over the edge of the 270-vote margin needed to win the presidency. But as of Tuesday, The Huffington Post's map shows Obama with 259 electoral votes in its Election Day projection.

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The president's Republican challenger Mitt Romney's electoral vote count is unchanged since the start of the week. A total of 206 electoral votes are projected to go red on Election Day, which still leaves a sizeable gap between Romney and Obama on the Electoral College map.

CLICK HERE to check out The Huffington Post's electoral projections along with its interactive map.

Many of the votes that The Huffington Post was predicting would go for Obama as of Monday have now been added to the toss up category. On Monday, 55 electoral votes were too close to call, and that number has increased Tuesday to a total of 73 toss up electoral votes.

According to The Huffington Post's data, the states that still remain in the toss up category include: Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, Ohio and Virginia.

The Huffington Post's data breaks down the states and their respective electoral votes as follows:

-Strong Obama: 217 electoral votes

-Leans Obama: 42 electoral votes

-Toss Up: 73 electoral votes

-Leans Romney: 15 electoral votes

-Strong Romney: 191 electoral votes

The Huffington Post's Electoral College map projection is based on analysis on various nationwide and state by state polls, but the forecast for how each electoral vote will go on Election Day is subject to change throughout the next week.