If ruling-party candidates receive extra help from government officials during elections, which condition is affected?

Correct answer: Administrative neutrality

Correct answer: A. Election officials and government machinery are expected to act impartially. Their job is to apply the same rules to all parties, protect voters, and conduct polling and counting fairly. If officials provide special help to ruling-party candidates, those candidates gain an unfair advantage. Other parties may not receive equal access, protection, or treatment, so the competition is no longer level. This weakens administrative neutrality, an important condition of a free and fair election. Option A is correct because it names the impartial conduct expected from administration. Option B is wrong because the voting age is a legal rule and is not changed by officials helping one party. Option C is wrong because the question concerns unequal official conduct, not the date of polling. Option D is wrong because manifesto length has no connection with neutral administration. Memory cue: “Public officials serve the election, not a party.”