After the 2010 census, Texas, the second most populous

E

we use fewer for countable items (17 votes);however, i got stuck between D and E and choose E

Texas has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes fewer than California.

I think in D subordinate clause "than that of California" is unnecessary

D lacks main verb.

ANother issue with D - That of California = 38 electoral votes of California.

E is perfect.

(E) wins

Fewer than is the most suitable
than that of is unnecessary.

picked d. thought it had "has" as well

E is the right one.

Bumping for review and further discussion*.

*New project from GMAT Club!!! Check HERE

Eliminate A,B,C because an adjective "less" is used for countable noun "Votes".
Eliminate D because "the second most populous state" works as additive to Texas. Texas with 38 electoral votes.Seem inappropriate

So answer is E with correct sound Texas has 38 electoral votes.

vote is a countable entity. Hence 'less' is incorrect, 'few' is correct. That leaves us with option (D) and (E).
In (D),'that' is referring to votes. The construction '17 votes fewer than votes of California' is very awkward and does not convey that intended comparison as clearly as option (E). Also, (D) is missing the main verb

Hence (E) = Correct choice

here , if 'those of ' used in place of 'that of' , will that makes option D correct?
what is the ellipsis in option 'E' . I do not remember a official ques , in which option similar to E is correct . mikemcgarry please help.

Dear anje29

Notice that (D) has no verb. The entire sentence would be without a verb---the famous missing verb mistake. That's a big problem with (D).

Suppose, we change (D) to give it a verb and to change "that" to "those"
(D1) has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes fewer than those of California
Meh! This is grammatically correct, but baggy and bloated, not elegant and appealing. Version (E) has much more "snap" than this.

You see, a big part of GMAT SC is rhetorical construction. The GMAT likes language that is direct, concise, and powerful. It likes a crisp down-to-business tone. Let the poets construct meandering sentences that wander on before they get to a point! The business world doesn't have time for that. Time is money, and the language reflects that.

"Texas" is the subject of the sentence, so the comparison to "California" puts it in a parallel subject role. I guess you would say that simply the verb "has" has been omitted.

Does this make sense?
Mike

Thanks Mike for the explanation

this question contains an important and common pattern in gmat.
The comparison is actually about two states, not the number of votes.

Because of countable Vs uncountable it boils down to D and E

D has subject verb agreement error. There is no verb for subject "Texas". This choice is not a sentence.

E is the correct answer.

Official Explanation

Split #1: "has" vs. "with". The subject of the sentence is "Texas." Eliminate the opening prepositional phrase, the appositive clause modifier, and everything after the final comma, and the core sentence is either "… Texas … has 38 electoral votes …" vs. "… Texas … with 38 electoral votes …" The "has" version has a bonafide subject and verb, but the "with" version commits the famous missing verb mistake. Because of this, choices (C) & (D) are incorrect.

Split #2: the comparison. We want a simple comparison --- how many electoral votes Texas has vs. how many California has. The construction "than that of California" may sound very highfalutin and GMAT like, but here it's incorrect. We don't want to compare the state Texas to something having to do with California. Rather, we want to compare the state Texas to the state California, plain and simple. The "than that of California" construction is incorrect in this context, so choices (A) & (D) are incorrect.

Split #3: "less" vs. "fewer", a split that only a fraction of the English-speaking world understands. You may find this blog helpful. For anything we can count, anything for which we would ask "how many?", we need to use "fewer." For anything uncountable, anything for which we would ask "how much?", we need to use "less." Here, we can count how many electoral votes each state has. We would ask the question "how many" electoral votes does such-and-such a state have. Because electoral votes are countable, we need the word "fewer" --- the word "less" is blatantly incorrect. Choices (A) & (B) & (C) are incorrect.

The only possible answer is choice (E).

After the 2010 census, Texas, the second most populous state, has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than that of California.
(A) has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than that of California -> One of the easily way to eliminate is by replacement of pronoun. Texas has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than electoral votes of California. This is absurd. It should be "California" only. Another issue, for countable noun, we need fewer. Incorrect.
(B) has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than California -> For countable noun, we need fewer. Incorrect.
(C) with 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than California -> we don't have verb. Incorrect.
(D) with 38 electoral votes, 17 votes fewer than that of California -> Same as C. Incorrect.
(E) has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes fewer than California -> This is better.

So, I think E.

After the 2010 census, Texas, the second most populous state, has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than that of California.
(A) has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than that of California
(B) has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than California
(C) with 38 electoral votes, 17 votes less than California
(D) with 38 electoral votes, 17 votes fewer than that of California
(E) has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes fewer than California

I think that E should be ' has 38 electoral votes, 17 votes fewer than has California '