Two candidates X and Y contested an election. 80% of voters cast their vote and there were no invalid votes. There was no NOTA (None of the above) option. X got 56% of the votes cast and won by 1440 votes. What is the total number of voters in the voters list?
- A.15,000
- B.12,000
- C.9,600
- D.5,000
▶ Answer & Explanation
Correct answer: A. 15,000
If X received 56% of the votes cast, and Y received the remaining 44% (since there were only two candidates and no invalid votes), then X won by a margin of 12% of the votes cast (56% - 44%). This 12% margin is equivalent to 1440 votes. Therefore, 1% of the votes cast is 1440 / 12 = 120 votes. Since 80% of the total voters cast their votes, the total votes cast represent 100% of the 80% share. If 120 votes represent 1% of the votes cast, then 100% of the votes cast is 120 * 100 = 12,000 votes. As these 12,000 votes represent 80% of the total voters, the total number of voters is 12,000 / 0.80 = 15,000.
Source: UPSC csat 2022