Question

Five-eighths of the votes were blue, 5/9 of the remaining were for green, and the remaining 48 were for red. How many votes were for blue?

Answer 1

Considering n the total of votes:
n = 5/8 * n + 5/9 * (1 - 5/8) * n + 48
Then
n (1 - 5/8 - 5/9*3/8) = 48
n (1/6) = 48
n = 288

=> blue votes = 5/8 * 288 = 180