These political machines were able to pack
legislatures and courts with hand-picked supporters by
purchasing 14 “votes”, a form of election fraud involving
the exchange of money or favors for votes
A) NO CHANGE
B) votes, being
C) votes, that is
D) votes, which it is
why is it a why not c
C) is incorrect because “that” is a relative pronoun in this context. A pronoun refers to a noun; it cannot be used to refer to a clause. Using the relative pronouns “which” and “that” to refer to complete clauses or states of affairs rather than to nouns is a common error frequently tested on the SAT.
Normally they give a few more clues as to how the answers would fit in the sentence. Is this how C would go?
These political machines were able to pack
legislatures and courts with hand-picked supporters by purchasing 14 “votes”, that is a form of election fraud involving the exchange of money or favors for votes.