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In an election between two candidates, 75% of the voters cast their votes. 2% of the votes cast were declared invalid. A candidate got 9261 votes which were 75% of the total valid votes. The total number of voters enrolled in that election was:
16,400
18,000
16,800
10,000
16,800
Work backward from the candidate's votes using successive percentages: Total Enrolled ├Ч0.75├Ч0.98├Ч0.75=9261.
Total votes cast = 75% of enrolled voters, Invalid votes = 2% of votes cast, Candidate's votes = 9261 which is 75% of total valid votes.
Total┬аEnrolled=Candidate┬аVotes├Ч75100тАЛ├Ч98100тАЛ├Ч75100тАЛ
Work backward from the candidate's votes using successive percentages: Total Enrolled ├Ч0.75├Ч0.98├Ч0.75=9261.
Confusing valid votes with total votes cast or forgetting to account for the 2% invalid votes.
Step 1: Understand candidate votes and total valid votes
The candidate got 9261 votes which represents 75% of the total valid votes. Let V be the total valid votes.
0.75├ЧV=9261тЯ╣V=0.759261тАЛ=12348
Step 2: Relate valid votes to total votes cast
Given that 2% of the votes cast were declared invalid, the valid votes are 98% of the total votes cast (C).
0.98├ЧC=12348тЯ╣C=0.9812348тАЛ=12600
Step 3: Relate total votes cast to total enrolled voters
Given that 75% of the voters enrolled cast their votes (E).
0.75├ЧE=12600тЯ╣E=0.7512600тАЛ=16800
Step 4: Final calculation
Combining all steps into a single expression for total voters enrolled E:
E=9261├Ч75100тАЛ├Ч98100тАЛ├Ч75100тАЛ=16800
C is correct because the total number of voters enrolled calculated step-by-step through valid votes and votes cast is 16,800.
Successive percentage chain rule is widely applicable in profit-loss, population growth, and election arithmetic problems.