In one American company, every employee is either a Democrat or a Republican. After one Republican decided to become a Democrat, the number of each became equal. Then, three more Republicans decided to become Democrats, and the number of Democrats became twice the number of Republicans. How many employees are there in this company?
After the "conversion" of three Republicans, the number of Democrats at the firm became 6 more than the number of Republicans. According to the condition, this difference is equal to the number of Republicans. Therefore, the number of Republicans became 6, and the number of Democrats became 12.

## Answer

18 employees.