In an election between two candidates, y% of the voters did not vote. 10% of…
2024
In an election between two candidates, y% of the voters did not vote. 10% of the votes cast were declared invalid, while all the valid votes were cast in favour of either of the two candidates. The candidate who got 59.375% of the valid votes cast was declared elected by 2484 votes. If the number of people eligible to vote in that election was 16,000, what is the value of y?
- A.
7.2
- B.
8.4
- C.
8
- D.
7.5
Attempted by 109 students.
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Correct answer: C
Understand the Vote Distribution:
There are two candidates. One received 59.375% of the valid votes.
The other candidate received (100% - 59.375%) = 40.625% of the valid votes.
The difference between their vote shares is 59.375% - 40.625% = 18.75%.
Calculate Total Valid Votes:
This 18.75% difference represents 2484 votes.
Let V be the total number of valid votes.
0.1875 * V = 2484
V = 2484 / 0.1875 = 13,248 valid votes.
Determine Total Votes Cast:
10% of the votes cast were invalid, meaning 90% of the votes cast were valid.
Let C be the total votes cast.
0.90 * C = 13,248
C = 13,248 / 0.90 = 14,720 votes cast.
Calculate the Percentage of Non-Voters (y%):
The total eligible voters were 16,000.
The number of people who did not vote is 16,000 - 14,720 = 1,280.
y% = (1,280 / 16,000) * 100
y = 0.08 * 100 = 8.