What exactly are electoral votes?

Electoral votes are like the keys to the White House. In the United States, we don't directly elect our presidents. Instead, we use a complex system called the Electoral College.
Think of it like a game of Monopoly, where each state is a property. The number of electoral votes each state gets is based on its population - bigger states get more votes. And just like in Monopoly, the candidate who gets the most properties (electoral votes) wins the game (the presidency).
So, if you're dreaming of living in the White House, you need to convince enough states to give you their votes. It's like a popularity contest, but on a massive scale.