Q. Are the results printed real votes that came in? Does advertising have any influence on the top 3 winners?
A. The results are really real; in many cases, they're not what we might have chosen at all if we did editor’s picks. And, no, our advertising department holds no sway over the winners. Any and all businesses are welcome and able to purchase ad spaces in the voting polls, but voters can still write in whatever business they deem ‘The Best of Alaska.’
Q. Have you ever thought of running an initial round of nominations and then a second round of voting?
A. Yes, and it’s something we will implement for 2021 voting. With this new change, we will have an initial nomination period (which is just like our current voting period, giving readers the opportunity to write-in whatever businesses they choose), and we will then take the top 5 “written-in” businesses in that category to include them in the true voting period.
Q. Do you find that voters try and cheat?
A. Yes, and our system filters out duplicate emails. We allow one email vote to count per week, per category.
Q. How many times can a person vote?
A. You can vote once per week, per category.
Q. Can you add a category for a specific business?
A. We switch up categories every year, putting in new ones and dropping some old ones based on voter participation. If you want to make the case for a specific category for next year's ballot, drop an email to our events team at bestofalaska@adn.com.
Have another question? Contact us at bestofalaska@adn.com.
