92-12 II-3

huaamy

Citizen of Mooresville's current city council is having a ruinous effect on municipal finances. Since a majority of the incumbents are running for reelection, I am going to campaign against all these incumbents in the upcoming city council election. The only incumbent I will support and vote for is the one who represents my own neighborhood, because she has the experience necessary to endure that our neighborhood's interests are served. If everyone in Mooresville would follow my example, we could substantially change the council's membership.

Assuming that each citizen of Mooresville is allowed to vote for a city council representative from his or her own neighborhood, for the council's membership to be changed substantially, it must be true that

(A) at least some other voters in Mooresville do not make the same exception for their own incumbent in the upcoming election

(B) most of the eligible voters in mooresvile vote in the upcoming election

(C) few of the incumbents on the Mooresville city council have run for reelection in previous election

(D) all of the seats on the Mooresville city council are filleb by incumbents whose terms are expiring

(E) nono of the challengers in the upcoming election for seats on Mooresville's city council are better able to serve the interests of their neighborhoods than were the incumbents

Correct answer is A. I do not understand. Anyone would like to help explain?

Thanks a lot!

jimli

The question and the Citizen focus on the same issue: the allegation that it’s possible to
alter the city council’s composition in a major way. How so? By campaigning ferociously
against the many incumbents on the current council. Oh, of course, the Citizen makes one
exception: She’s going to vote for her incumbent, who’s doing a good job. But if everyone
in Mooresville did likewise—campaign against incumbents generally but vote for their
own incumbent—then no incumbent would lose! To effect the magnitude of change the
Citizen desires, then, it has to be true that enough Mooresvillians vote for non-incumbents
to throw at least some of the rascals out. That’s (A), in so many words.

huaamy

Thanks so much!