In an election between 2 parties, a candidate secured 48% of the votes and lost the election by 40 votes. Find the total number of votes polled.
1000
Let the total number of votes polled be x
% of votes secured by losing candidate = 48%
∴ % of votes secured by winning candidate = 100 - 48 = 52%
As per question,
52x100−48x100 = 40
⇒4x = 40 × 100 = 4000
⇒x = 1000.
The total number of votes polled = 1000.