Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the winner of this year’s reader poll for TIME Person of the Year, but his name does not figure in the magazine editors’ own list of final eight. He secured more than 16% of the almost five million votes cast and was on Monday named winner of this year’s readers’ poll.
This year’s possible winners include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani and singer Taylor Swift. The list also includes groups of individuals, like the Ebola caregivers and protesters in Ferguson, Missouri.
TIME said “a strong showing of readers from India” helped drive Modi’s first-place finish. “More people from the country voted than from any other country, with the exception of the United States,” it said.
Readers from more than 225 countries participated in the online poll with US votes leading the tally at 37%, followed by India at 17% and Russia at 12%. Hong Kong protest leader Joshua Wong, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai and doctors and nurses treating Ebola rounded out the top five.
