In an election between two candidates, the defeated candidate secured 42% of the valid votes polled and lost the election by 2545800 votes. If 365500 votes were declared invalid and 30% of people did not cast their vote, what was the approximate number of people (in millions) in the electorate who did NOT cast their votes?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. 7.
We know,
Total votes = Total valid votes + invalid votes
According to the question;
Let the total number of valid votes be 100x.
Number of votes Losing candidate got = 42% of valid votes = 42x
Number of votes Winning candidate got = 58% of valid votes = 58x
Difference between the votes of the two candidates;
⇒ 58x - 42x = 2545800
⇒ 16x = 2545800
⇒ x = 159112.5
Total valid votes = 15911250
Total votes polled = Total valid votes + Invalid votes
⇒ 15911250 + 365500
⇒ 16276750
Total votes polled is equal to 70% of the total votes
⇒ Total votes = 16276750/0.7 = 23252500
Hence, people who did not cast their votes = 30% of total votes
⇒ 30% of 23252500
⇒ 6975750
Therefore, the approximate number of people (in millions) in the electorate who did not cast their votes is 7 million.