Explanation:

- The population increased by 20% to achieve the new count of 30,942.

- To find the original population, let’s consider the original population as $x$.

- A 20% increase on $x$ would be $x\times 0.20=0.20x$.

- Therefore, the final population is $x+0.20x=1.20x$.

- Given that $1.20x=30,942$, we solve for $x$ as follows:

$$

x = \frac{30,942}{1.20} = 25,785

$$

- Option 2: 25,785 is the correct original population.