How the World Is Voting in TIMEs Person of the Year Readers Poll
Voting patterns in TIME's ongoing Person of the Year reader's poll suggest that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is seen as a relatively more influential figure among European participants than among those in the United States. The poll asks readers to vote on whether the contenders deserve to be called the most influential person in the world, for better or worse, in 2016. According to data analyzed earlier this week by Apester, the poll's host, the percentage of all "yes" votes that went to Trump was three percentage points higher in Europe than in the U.S.even though more people voted for him overall in the U.S. than in Europe. However, Trump is seen as comparatively less influential in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a strong lead that has helped put him in the top spot overall. See the full results here, Among European voters, Trump's closest contender is Vladimir Putin, who has likewise received 11 of the "yes" votes cast there. He was tied with Julian Assange in the U.S. with 8 of "yes" votes each. In general, "yes" votes in the U.S. were more evenly spread out among the contenders than in Europe and India, Apester found. Each year, TIME selects the person who has been most influential on the news in the past 12 months. While the magazine's editors decide the final Person of the Year selection, the poll gives voice to readers' opinions about who they think made the most impact in 2016. For 2016, TIMEin partnership with Opentopic and IBM's Watsonis also able to track track how candidates made their mark on the Internet, information that TIME's editors used while finalizing the list for the Person of the Year reader's poll.