Vote for Your Favorite Miss Southeastern Ohio Contestant

Today People’s Choice Poll ballots for the Miss Southeastern Ohio pageant will be available in the Zanesville Times Recorder. The winner of the People’s Choice Poll will receive a scholarship. Photos and bios of all twenty contestants are available at Miss SEO and the newspaper's website; look for the pink Miss SEO logo [seen below] under “photo gallery” on the left side of the page.

I had originally thought this was a free online poll and wrote the following:

I prefer this type of poll because the public actually seems to have more of a say in the winner, unlike fundraising polls in which the winner’s friends and family likely paid for their win.

I would encourage these contestants to take their fate into their own hands by using some personal publicity skills. I attribute my win of the 2000 Miss Peony Pageant People’s Choice poll and being in the Final Four of the Face of Fox Toledo directly to starting aggressive email chains, signage, blogging and news articles.

Since the newspaper's website reads "Official ballots are available only in the print edition of the Times Recorder beginning Monday, Jan. 2" I guess someone could make a major push for a certain contestant by buying up a great deal of newspapers; hopefully it will be a fair contest if Times Recorder subscribers send in their ballots, whether or not they know a contestant. Regardless, if I were a contestant I would do all I could to make sure everyone I know and everyone they know, etc, etc, voted… for me.

As for fundraising polls, I completely understand their necessity and respect their use as a money maker. The fact remains that some families have paid more than their contestant ultimately wins. Sad but true.