Narendra Modi Holds Strong Lead in TIMEs Person of the Year Readers Poll
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a solid lead in TIME's Person of the Year Reader's Poll with 18 of all "yes" votes as of Tuesday evening. While a September Pew poll found that 81 of Indians held a favorable view of Modi, he has come under scrutiny in recent weeks for banning 500- and 1,000-rupee bills. While the move is meant to curtail untaxed income, it has upended cash-based businesses and threatened to slow the country's economic growth. TIME's poll host, Apester, says that unlike other voters, those who support Modi are particularly likely to select "no" on other candidates rather than voting affirmatively for multiple choices. Modi's closest contenders are Julian Assange, Barack Obama and Donald Trump with 7 of the "yes" votes each. Each year, TIME selects the person who has, for better or for worse, impacted the news the most in the past year. The magazine's editors always make the final Person of the Year selection, but this poll is a way for readers to voice their own opinions on who has made the greatest impact on the world in 2016. For 2016, TIMEin partnership with Opentopic and IBM's Watsonis also able to track and compare influence in a whole new way. Opentopic worked with Watson to track how candidates made their mark on the Internet, in order to create a picture of what the world is saying about the people and ideas that matter. TIME's editors used this information while finalizing the list for the Person of the Year reader poll. Voting on the reader's choice poll ends Dec. 4, at 1159 p.m. ET.