Ferguson protestors come second.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: A massive number of voters from India helped propel the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi as the winner of the reader poll for Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
Modi received more than 16% of almost five million votes cast, according to a report by Time, a magazine which has been in the doldrums because of declining circulation numbers, but the annual competition still remains a favorite among publications for such contests.
The Person of the year winner, decided by the editors of the magazine, will be revealed by managing editor Nancy Gibbs on NBC’s Today show on Wednesday morning.
Protesters who took to the streets in Ferguson, Missouri, after the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager finished second with 9%. Hong Kong protest leader Joshua Wong, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai and the doctors and nurses treating Ebola rounded out the top five.
A majority of votes, 60%, came from desktop computers. Just over 35% came from mobile devices, and 4.5% of readers voted on tablets.
A strong showing of readers from India helped drive Modi’s first-place finish, said the report. More people from the country voted than from any other country, with the exception of the United States. Readers from more than 225 countries in total participated, with U.S. votes leading the pack at 37%, followed by India at 17% and Russia at 12%. Last year, readers from Egypt helped lift General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in the poll.