The FEOTM contest is intended as a community recognition award which celebrates the work of faneditors who also choose to call FE home. The selection process of the award has varied over the years starting as a public vote, then to an Academy selection, then to a Staff selection, and then finally restored to a public poll.
The intention of returning the contest to a public poll was so that the award will be an honor which is determined by the forum community - FEOTM is an award which derives its unique honor from the fact that it is entirely decided by the community.
In order for a public vote to work, the community and faneditors must be able to trust that all votes cast are representative of our contributing member community.
Unfortunately we have determined that several of the votes cast in the March 2012 FEOTM Poll were cast by user accounts which were clearly created for the sole-purpose of voting in the March 2012 FEOTM contest. These accounts were all created during the month of April, their votes were cast within minutes of being created, and then logged out of, never to be logged into again. There is no evidence to suggest that these accounts were sock accounts, but there is overwhelming evidence to convince the staff that the votes in question are not from legitimate forum members.
As these votes are abusive of the community spirit in which the FEOTM is intended, as well as decidedly unfair to the other faneditors, the staff has determined that these votes are to be removed from the poll and the results have been recalculated and available on the first page of this thread.
The staff considers this matter closed. If you have questions or concerns about this issue, please feel free to PM a staff member directly but DO NOT engage in public speculation regarding this situation.
So, without further adieu, it is my pleasure to be the first to offer congratulations to BionicBob for the March FEOTM for 2012. I'm truly sorry for it being announced under such drastic circumstances, but in reviewing the legitimate votes by actual forum members, there is no doubt who the winner is, and you certainly deserve it.