In an election, the votes cast for two of the candidates were in the ratio 5 : 7. If the successful candidate received 20734 votes, how many votes did his opponent receive?

Let the vote cast for two candidates be 5x and 7x

Successful candidate will receive greater votes.

∴ 7x = 20734

x = 2962

opponent votes = 5x = 5× 2962 = 14810

Hence, opponent will receive 14810 votes.