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A political ballot gives voters the option to vote for one of three candidates. Eight voters cast their ballots.
Which statistical rule should be used to determine the possible voting outcomes?
The multiplication principle is used to determine the number of possible outcomes when multiple independent choices occur in sequence. In data-driven decision making and probability theory, this rule applies when each event has a fixed number of outcomes and each outcome is independent of the others.
In this scenario, each of the eight voters can independently choose one of three candidates. The total number of possible voting outcomes is calculated by multiplying the number of choices available for each voter. Because the voters act independently and order matters in counting outcomes, the multiplication principle is the correct method.
Conditional probability applies when outcomes depend on prior events, Bayes' theorem updates probabilities based on new information, and combinations are used when order does not matter. None of these fit the structure of this problem.
Therefore, the correct answer is A, multiplication principle.