In 2014 it was all of the above, but with apathy over having won it previously (Housepets! still seemed exited and won decisively).
If the UMA website had analytics, this could be confirmed, but it's hard to see where else the swings could be coming from.
You can view this positively, in that these people helped get out the vote, or negatively, in that the vote can be swayed by campaigning. The key takeaway for the ALAA is that they could get more people voting if they got all of those who're nominated to tell their fans each year.
Things could be improved by simple steps such as notifying people that they were on the ballot, or emailing those who'd nominated telling them it was time to vote. Heck, maybe even ask those who voted last year to nominate and vote! Two or three mailings a year is not excessive.
Incidentally, WikiFur always seems to get a lot of second- and third-preference votes; it would have won in 2012 if not for EQD, despite FA having twice WikiFur's first-preference votes. I'm guessing it's not many people's favourite website, just one that most think is good to have.
First off, congratulation to all the winners, and the runners-up. It takes a lot of work to achieve either of those positions.
Next, voting! I don't want to say there's a huge problem, but clearly the count hasn't been going the way you might expect.
My theory is voting is driven by those who promote their eligibility and/or nomination, and hence get first-preference votes.
If the UMA website had analytics, this could be confirmed, but it's hard to see where else the swings could be coming from.
You can view this positively, in that these people helped get out the vote, or negatively, in that the vote can be swayed by campaigning. The key takeaway for the ALAA is that they could get more people voting if they got all of those who're nominated to tell their fans each year.
Things could be improved by simple steps such as notifying people that they were on the ballot, or emailing those who'd nominated telling them it was time to vote. Heck, maybe even ask those who voted last year to nominate and vote! Two or three mailings a year is not excessive.
Incidentally, WikiFur always seems to get a lot of second- and third-preference votes; it would have won in 2012 if not for EQD, despite FA having twice WikiFur's first-preference votes. I'm guessing it's not many people's favourite website, just one that most think is good to have.