It seems confusing, but if you look at it like it's a board game,(like we do) it's simple:

1) A State can be either red or blue,

2) When the Democrat candidate wins a state, it becomes blue, when the Republican candidate wins a state, it becomes red.

3) Each state has a point value(based on it's population)

4)At 11pm on election night(when the polls in California close) we add up all the points and who ever gets 270 or more wins!!!!

It is a lot easier to understand than a lot of other games, like cribbage, for instance.