The proposal for combined entrance test for MBA colleges, failed to pass by only a slim margin several times in the Directors Syndicate. Twenty-seven votes were required for passage. Twenty-six directors on the Syndicate voted in favor of the proposal in 1999, whereas only 24 directors voted in favor of it in 2001. This was true even though no director changed his or her vote.

Which of the following, if true, best accounts for the change in the number of votes for the proposal from 26 in 1999 to 24 in 2001?

In 1999, the Syndicate's president took a personal interest in the passage of the proposal, while in 2001 the effort was left in the hands of the members of the syndicate.

There was an election in 2000 in which two council members who favored the proposal did not get re-elected to the council and no one who favored the proposal was newly elected.

There was an election in 1999 in which a director who did not favor the proposal was re-elected and the faculty ad hoc committee lost one or its members.

In 2000, a group of directors, not on the syndicate, petitioned extensively to convince the syndicate to oppose the proposal.

None of these