The eight contenders the magazine chose include Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi — the leader of ISIL, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump. Sanders was inexplicably left off of the list. At the time polling ended, Sanders had 10.2% of the vote, while Trump had a mere 1.8% and made the cut.
Sanders also received nearly double the amount of the second runner up, Pakistani girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai, who had 5.2% of the vote. Third runner up with 3.7% was Pope Francis, who took the title in 2013.
Meanwhile, Clinton received 1.4% of the vote, coming in even behind the scandalous Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin who came in with 2.1%.
While Sanders may still be behind Clinton in the polls, he has been drawing awe-inspiring crowds to his campaign stops and shattered records for the number of people donating to his run. Snubbing Super PAC’s, his campaign has been financed by everyday Americans, averaging around $30 donations.
Other world leaders included were President Obama came in 4th place, with 3.5% of the vote, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 2.9%, German Chancellor Angela Merkel 2.4%, as well as Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy with 2.2% each.
While the people have clearly spoken on who they believe deserves the title for 2015, the magazine always stresses that the decision will be made by the magazine’s editorial staff. Never before have they named a presidential candidate their person of the year prior to the end of their campaign, though the magazine has decided that Donald Trump deserves to remain in the running.
In 2014, the magazine awarded the once-coveted title to the “Ebola fighters.”
This year’s winner will be announced on Wednesday on NBC’s Today show, but many have argued that ignoring the vote of the people leaves the award rendered meaningless.
