City Councilor: Claims of voter fraud in last years election by my op

Question

City Councilor: Claims of voter fraud in last year’s election by my opponent are tenuous as best. These claims are based entirely on data from a small internet survey completed just after the election, and there are several reasons to question the fairness and accuracy of this survey. Additionally, recent newspaper articles claiming to verify the voter fraud in last year’s election do not provide any additional compelling evidence in support of my opponent’s claims since _______.

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A. The recent articles were written by highly regarded journalists.

B. The data for the analyses contained in the recent articles come entirely from the same survey done soon after the election.

C. The number of fraudulent votes calculated in the analyses in the new articles would not have been sufficient to change the outcome of the election.

D. There was no evidence of voter fraud in any prior city council elections before last year.

E. A local television news program recently aired a story investigating the existence of widespread voter fraud.

winterschool · Answer

City Councilor: Claims of voter fraud in last year’s election by my opponent are tenuous as best. These claims are based entirely on data from a small internet survey completed just after the election, and there are several reasons to question the fairness and accuracy of this survey. Additionally, recent newspaper articles claiming to verify the voter fraud in last year’s election do not provide any additional compelling evidence in support of my opponent’s claims since _______.

Which of the following most logically completes the argument?

A. The recent articles were written by highly regarded journalists.  Incorrect

not related with last line of argument

B.  The data for the analyses contained in the recent articles come entirely from the same survey done soon after the election.   Correct

may be correct answer, if articles data comes from same source, we can say it doesnt provide any additional evidence

C. The number of fraudulent votes calculated in the analyses in the new articles would not have been sufficient to change the outcome of the election.  Incorrect

change the outcome of the election is irrelevant to argument

D. There was no evidence of voter fraud in any prior city council elections before last year.  Incorrect

not helpful

E. A local television news program recently aired a story investigating the existence of widespread voter fraud.  Incorrect

against argument

Nidzo · Answer

A. The recent articles were written by highly regarded journalists.
 This choice, one could argue, gives greater weight to the survey. It is unlikely that multiple highly regarded journalists would use a single source to substantiate the idea of voter fraud, unless the source were reputable.

B. The data for the analyses contained in the recent articles come entirely from the same survey done soon after the election.
 This choice logically completes the argument. It strengthens the councilor's claim of there not being any voter fraud by saying that the only proof his opposition and journalists have are from a questionable small survey.

C. The number of fraudulent votes calculated in the analyses in the new articles would not have been sufficient to change the outcome of the election.
 This choice does not create a logical flow in the city councilor's argument. The issue at hand is not whether the councilor won through voter fraud, rather if there was voter fraud.

D. There was no evidence of voter fraud in any prior city council elections before last year.
 Just because there were no instances of voter fraud in prior elections does not eliminate the possibility of there having been voter fraud in this election.

E. A local television news program recently aired a story investigating the existence of widespread voter fraud.
 This is completely irrelevant. It does not offer any information which would nullify the recent claims made by journalists.

Answer B

rvgmat12 · Answer

OE:

(1) Identify the Question

This question has a Fill in the Blank structure. The word since before the blank indicates you are providing additional support for the argument, so this is a Strengthen the Argument question.

(2) Deconstruct the Argument

The City Councilor’s opponent has claimed there was voter fraud in the prior election, but the City Councilor asserts that these claims are based on a questionable survey. News articles also claim to verify this fraud. But the City Councilor says the recent articles do not provide any additional evidence of fraud.

Here is one possible way to map the argument.

Voter fraud based on survey

+ recent articles

(3) State the Goal

On Strengthen questions, you are trying to support the argument. In this case, you are trying to bolster the City Councilor’s claim specifically about the new articles: the new articles do not provide additional evidence of voter fraud.

(4) Work From Wrong to Right

(A) The reputation of the journalists does not provide any information regarding whether their articles include new compelling evidence. If anything, this answer weakens the City Councilor’s claim because it may be more likely that the claims in the articles are credible if they come from highly regarded journalists.

(B) CORRECT. If the news articles are based on the same data as the original claims of fraud, they are not really providing any additional or new evidence. If that data was inaccurate in the first place, then these articles will be no more reliable than the original claims.

(C) This answer does not speak to whether the evidence in the news articles is compelling. The City Councilor may want to be able to claim that, even if there were some voter fraud, the election would still have been valid—but this idea is not what the conclusion asked you to strengthen.

(D) Whether voter fraud existed in prior elections does not speak to the election in question. Further, there is no relation between what happened in prior elections and the credibility of the articles about the recent election.

(E) The argument specifically refers to whether the articles provide additional evidence of voter fraud. The story by the television program does not affect the evidence presented in the articles.

Paras96 · Answer

A. The recent articles were written by highly regarded journalists.
 - This statement doesn't directly address the quality or credibility of the evidence presented in the recent articles. The argument is about the evidence in the articles, not the reputation of the journalists. Therefore, it doesn't logically complete the argument.
 
B. The data for the analyses contained in the recent articles come entirely from the same survey done soon after the election. 
 - This option directly addresses the issue by pointing out that the recent articles rely on the same survey data as the opponent's claims. This weakens the credibility of the recent articles, as they don't provide independent evidence and merely recycle the same data. This is a relevant and suitable completion of the argument.

C. The number of fraudulent votes calculated in the analyses in the new articles would not have been sufficient to change the outcome of the election.
 - This statement provides a reason why the recent articles do not provide compelling evidence. It suggests that even if the alleged voter fraud occurred, it wouldn't have affected the election outcome. This is a valid completion of the argument.

D. There was no evidence of voter fraud in any prior city council elections before last year.
 - This statement pertains to previous elections and doesn't directly address the credibility or evidentiary value of the recent newspaper articles. It doesn't complete the argument effectively.

E. A local television news program recently aired a story investigating the existence of widespread voter fraud.
 - This statement introduces new information about a television news program but doesn't directly complete the argument regarding the credibility of the recent newspaper articles or their ability to provide compelling evidence.

Upon reevaluation, option (B) is indeed the most suitable completion of the argument because it directly addresses the issue of the recent newspaper articles relying on the same survey data as the opponent's claims, which weakens their credibility and the strength of the evidence they provide.

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

City Councilor: Claims of voter fraud in last years election by my op

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

City Councilor: Claims of voter fraud in last years election by my op

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards