Henry Ernest Dudeney/Modern Puzzles/83 - A Critical Vote

by : $83$

 * A Critical Vote
 * A meeting of a charitable society was held to decide whether the members should expand their operations.
 * It was arranged that during the count those in favour of the motion should remain standing,
 * and those who voted against should sit down.


 * "Ladies and gentlemen," said the chairman in due course, "I have the pleasure to announce that the motion is carried by a majority exactly equal to exactly a quarter of the opposition."
 * "Excuse me, sir," called somebody from the back, "but some of us over here could not sit down, because there are not enough chairs."
 * "Then those who wanted to sit down but couldn't are to hold up their hands ... I find there are a dozen of you, so the motion is lost by a majority of one."


 * Now, how many people voted at that meeting?

Note that the language and concepts have been updated to accommodate modern sensibilities.