Miley Cyrus TIME Person of the Year Voting Rigged? Programmers Claim to Find Loophole as Singer Leads the Poll
Miley Cyrus is leaning to become Time magazine's 2013 Person of the Year, but are that many of her Smilers really voting for her?
As of Wednesday, Nov. 27, the Wrecking Ball singer is leading the publication's online poll with 28 percent of users voting her into that top spot. She's beating out Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat Narendra Modi (who has 13 percent), former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden (also with 13 percent) and a number of politicians and even celebrities.
Time editors ultimately choose the Person of the Year, but it appears there has been some vote rigging to get Cyrus in the top spot.
A pair of programmers claim they've found a way to cast multiple votes for Cyrus in an effort to make a mockery of the poll. A spokesperson for Time told Mashable they are "aware of the efforts to affect the results of the Person of the Year poll, and have measures in place so that only legitimate votes are being incorporated in the final tally [Dec. 6]...We're delighted that so many people are having fun with this informal poll and contributing to the conversation [about who should win]."
Cyrus is hoping to get the TIME honor and recently retweeted two fan accounts urging Smilers to cast their votes for her.
The results of the Time poll will be revealed Dec. 6, and the magazine will announce their editor-chosen Person of the Year on Dec. 11.
The honor has routinely gone to world leaders -- U.S. President Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008; Vladimir Putin in 2007; George W. Bush in 2004 and 2000. Groups of people have also won in the past: protestor in 2011; "you" in 2006; good samaritans in 2005; the American soldier in 2003. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg earned the title in 2010, while Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke received it in 2009.
