It is a popularity contest. There are few enough voting at this point that it doesn't take a very large voting block to win. The question then becomes "Why are so few voting?" My take is that the vast majority in the fandom just don't see the Ursa Major Awards as important or relevant. It's bad enough to have categories outside the fandom that the winners will never even know they won or care if they did. Worse, there are fandom categories where the winners in the fandom often wouldn't give a crap if they won or acknowledge it. As much as as the ones running this want these awards to have the same level of prestige as say a Hugo award, they don't. Many of the winners don't care, most of the fans don't care. It's like a yearly ego circle jerk with the results being about as important as what ended up on a certain famous pizza.
It is a popularity contest. There are few enough voting at this point that it doesn't take a very large voting block to win. The question then becomes "Why are so few voting?" My take is that the vast majority in the fandom just don't see the Ursa Major Awards as important or relevant. It's bad enough to have categories outside the fandom that the winners will never even know they won or care if they did. Worse, there are fandom categories where the winners in the fandom often wouldn't give a crap if they won or acknowledge it. As much as as the ones running this want these awards to have the same level of prestige as say a Hugo award, they don't. Many of the winners don't care, most of the fans don't care. It's like a yearly ego circle jerk with the results being about as important as what ended up on a certain famous pizza.