Question

In an election involving two candidates, 76 votes were declared invalid. The winning candidate gets 52 percent of the valid votes and wins by 104 votes. Calculate the number of votes polled.

1. 2600
2. 2564
3. 2676
4. 2345
5. 2178

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : 2676

Given:

Winning candidate gets 52% of valid votes and wins by 104 votes.

76 votes were invalid

Concept:

Total votes polled = sum of valid and invalid votes

Calculation:

Let total votes be x

Winning candidate gets = 52% of x = 0.52x

Losing candidate gets = (100 – 52)% of x = 0.48x

Difference in votes = 0.52x – 0.48x = 0.04x

0.04x = 104

x = 104/0.04

x = 2600

Total votes polled = 2600 + 76 = 2676

∴ Total votes polled is 2676