In a school election four candidates polled these votes — A: 280, B: 210, C: 140, D: 70. Which statement about the result is correct?

The votes cast total 280 + 210 + 140 + 70 = 700, so A's share is (280 ÷ 700) × 100 = 40 percent and half the votes is 350, leaving A 350 − 280 = 70 votes short. Polling more votes than anyone else is a plurality, not an absolute majority, and the two are quite different: A won while three-fifths of the voters chose somebody else. The figure 28 percent uses 1,000 as the total instead of the 700 actually cast, and 140 measures the gap from 60 percent of the votes rather than from half.