What is an electoral vote?

You know how your parents go to vote? When they do this they are actually voting for the electoral vote, each states votes get counted, and a selected individual decides from the votes who do give their electoral votes to. California has 53 electoral votes, so that is an important one to win. Alaska, Texas, Ohio, and some other states have a lot too. The electoral votes get cast and who ever receives the most wins. A president is able to get a majority vote and not win, but that has only happened 5 or 6 times in history.