North Carolina Online Voting Contests

Charlotte Observer Athlete of the Week

Charlotte · The Charlotte Observer (McClatchy)

The Charlotte Observer (McClatchy) runs two free fan polls weekly — boys and girls, separately — covering NCHSAA schools across Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, and Gaston counties. The poll lives at charlotteobserver.com, uses a refresh-to-vote mechanic with no hourly cap, and closes hard at noon Friday. The Observer sports desk picks nominees; highest vote total at close wins outright.

Charlotte Observer Boys High School Athlete of the Week

Charlotte · Charlotte Observer

The Charlotte Observer's weekly fan vote for the top boys high school athlete in the Charlotte metro — multi-sport, year-round, closes Friday at noon Eastern. Unlike the SI/SBLive state polls that run all week to Sunday, this one gives voters five days and cuts off at midday Friday.

Charlotte Observer Girls High School Athlete of the Week

Charlotte · Charlotte Observer

The Charlotte Observer's weekly fan vote for the top girls high school athlete in the Charlotte metro — multi-sport, year-round, closes Friday at noon Eastern. The same paper runs an independent boys poll simultaneously; this ballot covers girls only, pulling nominees from ten counties plus CISAA private schools with no account or login required to vote.

Greensboro News & Record Player of the Week

Greensboro · Greensboro News & Record (greensboro.com)

A weekly open public fan-vote poll on greensboro.com naming a Player of the Week across high school football and other sports, sponsored by Deuterman Law and run by the Greensboro News & Record — a separate ballot from the statewide SI/SBLive poll, the Charlotte Observer's metro poll, and the HighSchoolOT/WRAL Triangle poll already covering North Carolina.

HighSchoolOT Athlete of the Week

Raleigh · HighSchoolOT / WRAL (Capitol Broadcasting Company)

Weekly fan-vote poll presented by State Employees' Credit Union at highschoolot.com, naming a male and female Athlete of the Week from North Carolina's Triangle area and all six NC area codes each school year. Operated by Capitol Broadcasting Company (WRAL parent), covering NCHSAA schools across Wake, Durham, Johnston, and Chatham counties.

North Carolina High School Baseball Player of the Week

The High School on SI statewide fan vote for the best North Carolina prep baseball performance of the week. SI's editors pick 10 nominees from across all eight NCHSAA classifications; anyone can vote unlimited times with no account, and the poll closes Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.

North Carolina High School Baseball Player of the Year

Statewide North Carolina · High School on SI / SBLive (Sports Illustrated / Minute Media)

Annual spring fan-vote run by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive) recognising the top North Carolina prep baseball player statewide; 15 candidates shortlisted from all NCHSAA classifications, public voting free, no account needed.

North Carolina High School Boys Basketball Player of the Week

The High School on SI statewide fan vote for the best North Carolina boys basketball performance of the week. SI editors pick roughly ten nominees; anyone can vote with no account; the poll closes Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific after a roughly six-day window.

North Carolina High School Football Player of the Week

The High School on SI statewide fan vote for the best NCHSAA football performance of the week. Fifteen nominees, anyone can vote with no account, and the ballot closes Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific — giving campaigns a full six days from the Monday open to the Sunday night wire.

North Carolina High School Girls Basketball Player of the Week

High School on SI runs a statewide weekly fan vote each girls basketball season across all NCHSAA classifications. Editors nominate roughly 10 players, anyone can vote with no account, and the ballot closes Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific — a tighter window than the football polls, with fewer names splitting the vote.

North Carolina High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year

Statewide North Carolina · High School on SI / SBLive (Sports Illustrated / Minute Media)

Annual winter fan-vote award run by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive) selecting the top North Carolina prep girls basketball player statewide; SI editorial staff shortlists roughly 15 candidates across all NCHSAA classifications (1A–4A), public vote is free with no account required, poll typically closes in late March.

North Carolina High School Player of the Year

Statewide North Carolina · HighSchoolOT / WRAL Sports Fan (Capitol Broadcasting Company)

Annual statewide fan-vote awards run by HighSchoolOT (WRAL Sports Fan) covering 36 categories across fall, winter, and spring seasons; nominations open each spring and the public fan vote runs through June, with winners announced in July.

North Carolina High School Softball Player of the Week

The High School on SI statewide fan vote for the best North Carolina prep softball performance of the week. SI editors nominate 10 players from across all NCHSAA classifications; anyone can vote with no account, unlimited times, and the poll closes Sunday at 11:59 p.m. PT after a roughly six-day window.

North Carolina High School Softball Player of the Year

Statewide North Carolina · High School on SI / SBLive (Sports Illustrated / Minute Media)

Annual spring statewide fan-vote award run by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive) identifying the top North Carolina prep softball player across all NCHSAA classifications; SI editorial staff shortlist roughly 15 candidates, public vote is free with no account needed.

Tatum & Atkinson Scholar Athlete of the Week

Greensboro / High Point · WXLV ABC 45 Greensboro (abc45.com)

WXLV ABC 45 Greensboro runs Tatum & Atkinson Scholar Athlete of the Week at abc45.com, a Piedmont Triad high-school recognition segment tied to the station's Friday Night Rivals sports coverage. The current cycle's nomination window is confirmed open August through December 2026, the program's second confirmed cycle after 2025. Which categories apply, what ceiling each voter faces and when a voting stage might open are all left unstated; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Winston-Salem Journal Football Player of the Week

The Winston-Salem Journal's weekly Triad-region fan vote for high school football's standout performance. Nominees are entered into a Google Form poll each Monday, voting stays open through Wednesday, and the newspaper announces the winner Thursday, a shorter, Google-Form-based cycle than the statewide SI ballot covering the same season.

WSOC Big 22

Charlotte · WSOC-TV Channel 9

Annual fan-vote program by WSOC-TV Channel 9 (Cox Media Group, Charlotte) selecting 22 elite Charlotte-region high school football players each fall, then crowning a Player of the Year through multi-round public online voting — up to 9 votes per day, free, with a $10,000 school prize.

Best of Chowan County

Edenton · The Chowan Herald

The Chowan Herald, Edenton's own newspaper, runs Best of Chowan County at thechowanherald.secondstreetapp.com, a combined nominate-and-vote ballot for local businesses. The confirmed 2026 window runs August 8 through September 13, with no earlier edition on file and no word yet on whether a second one follows. A category list and any vote cap are also unstated past that window; confirm all of it on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of Haywood

The Mountaineer runs Best of Haywood at themountaineer.com/best-of-haywood, based in Waynesville, North Carolina. Five editions are confirmed, 2022 through 2026. For 2026, nominations opened February 11 and voting opened March 11, with the winners edition printed in The Mountaineer newspaper on April 29. Day-level dates for the 2027 cycle, along with any vote cap, are not yet published; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of North Carolina

Annual statewide community-voted business awards run by GuideToNC.com, covering 20+ industry sections across three recognition tiers, with public nomination and voting each cycle.

Best of the Pines (The Pilot)

Since 2019, Southern Pines, North Carolina has kept one nominate-then-vote ballot running without a break, Best of the Pines, organized by The Pilot Promotions and built on the Second Street system at pilot.secondstreetapp.com. Eight editions carry that unbroken run forward, 2019 into 2026, and this year's cycle names go in from June 1 through 21 before the vote itself opens July 8 through 28. Once that stretch ends the page stops naming specifics, so anyone asking about categories or a supporter limit should confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Carolina Great Pyrenees Rescue Calendar Photo Contest

Marshville · Carolina Great Pyrenees Rescue

Carolina Great Pyrenees Rescue runs its Calendar Photo Contest for supporters of the group's Great Pyrenees dogs at gogophotocontest.com/carolinapyrrescue. The rescue, based on a farm in Marshville, North Carolina, confirms voting closes September 30, 2026, at 9:00 PM Eastern time, with the page's own dated language naming 2026 as the confirmed contest year. This is the first confirmed edition; whether it returns next year is not yet published; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Charlotte Magazine Best of the Best Awards

Charlotte Magazine's single Voters' Choice online poll, not a nominate-then-vote ballot, spanning 80-plus categories across dining, shopping, health, and local life. Voting runs January through February; winners print in the May issue. Confirmed for more than 25 straight years.

CharlotteFive Readers' Choice

Charlotte · Charlotte Observer

Four confirmed editions, 2023 through 2026, sit behind CharlotteFive Readers' Choice, the Charlotte Observer's own readers'-choice ballot for Charlotte, North Carolina, hosted directly at charlotteobserver.com/charlottefive/readers-choice. The 2026 cycle is already in its voting phase as of September 2026. Exactly which day this window opened, when it shuts, and whether a per-voter limit applies stay off that page; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

CommunityVotes Concord

A local CommunityVotes partner keeps concordnc.communityvotes.com running for Concord, North Carolina's readers'-choice business ballot. A pair of confirmed editions stand behind it, 2024 and 2026, and the page as it stands now shows the June 2026 round wrapped up with a link straight to winners. Award plaques for that round get made to order, with 6 to 8 weeks named for fulfillment. Past June, exact daily dates, a category rundown, and any per-voter ceiling go unmentioned; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

CommunityVotes Durham

Durham, North Carolina's CommunityVotes ballot runs at durham.communityvotes.com under a partner licensed locally by the network. The 2026 window opens at 6:00 in the morning on Wednesday, August 12, and it closes at 11:59 that night on Sunday, September 13, an unusually exact pair of bookends for a program whose own confirmed history goes back only to 2025, its first proven year. What other CommunityVotes cities publish carries no weight here; Durham's own results stay specific to Durham. Whatever categories apply, and whatever cap governs a single supporter's votes, wait on the live ballot to settle each cycle.

CommunityVotes Fayetteville NC

A local partner keeps fayetteville.communityvotes.com going for CommunityVotes Fayetteville, a readers'-choice business ballot. It shares nothing with Fayetteville Community's Choice Awards beyond a similar-sounding name and the same city; separate organizers run each one. Its history holds two confirmed editions, 2025 and 2026, and the June 2026 round has already closed, its results page crediting campaign supporters such as Movement Mortgage and Hair by Thao. Which categories exist and what limit applies go unmentioned; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

CommunityVotes Greenville

Greenville · CommunityVotes Greenville

Greenville, North Carolina runs its own city-specific readers' choice ballot inside the CommunityVotes network, at greenville.communityvotes.com, distinct from the Daily Reflector's own newspaper-run Best Of Pitt County program. The live site puts nominations open September 2 through December 27, 2026. Category rules and any vote limit sit outside what's confirmed here; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

CommunityVotes High Point

CommunityVotes puts High Point's readers'-choice ballot online through a local partner, reachable at highpoint.communityvotes.com. Two cycles make up this North Carolina program's confirmed history, one that ran in 2025, another in 2026 whose voting stretch had already wrapped by June, results already linked from the same page. Beyond that single data point, whether entries get sorted into named categories or a supporter runs into a daily cap stays unstated, leaving highpoint.communityvotes.com as the place worth trusting once a fresh cycle starts.

CommunityVotes Wilmington NC

Wilmington, North Carolina's CommunityVotes ballot has closed out three straight confirmed years, 2024, 2025 and 2026, with the newest result posted in June at wilmingtonnc.communityvotes.com. A local partner runs it on the network's behalf. Once that result went live, the page stopped naming anything further, no category breakdown, no supporter limit, and no date yet for a fourth round. The live ballot itself, not last year's pattern, is where those specifics will actually show up.

CommunityVotes Winston-Salem

CommunityVotes Winston-Salem's own published history counts exactly two editions, 2024 and 2026, and 2025 simply never appears on that list, unexplained. A partner licensed locally for Winston-Salem, North Carolina keeps the ballot running at winstonsalem.communityvotes.com, where the 2026 window opens at 6:00 in the morning on Wednesday, August 12 and runs until 11:59 that night on Sunday, September 13. A separate promote page sits alongside the main address for businesses wanting extra visibility. Categories and any per-voter ceiling stay off that page; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Daily Courier Readers' Choice Awards

Forest City, North Carolina's Daily Courier Readers' Choice Awards runs on Second Street at thedigitalcourier.secondstreetapp.com, hosted by The Daily Courier. Three confirmed editions back the program, 2023, 2024, and 2026, with the most recent window running May 4 through June 23, 2026. Past that window, the page stays silent on categories and on any per-supporter limit; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Daily Reflector Best Of Pitt County

The Daily Reflector's Readers' Choice Awards for Pitt, Beaufort, Greene, Lenoir, and Martin counties, a two-stage open-nomination-then-public-vote program that drew 148,679 votes in its 2025 cycle.

Favorites of the Foothills

Tryon Daily Bulletin organizes Favorites of the Foothills, a readers'-choice business ballot on Second Street at tryondailybulletin2.secondstreetapp.com. It has run in 2025 and again in 2026, each round folding nomination and voting into one combined page. The 2025 round ran April 29 through July 7, 2025, and the 2026 round ran May 1 through August 1, 2026; both windows have already closed. Tryon Daily Bulletin publishes no city boundary for the ballot beyond its own name, and neither a category sheet nor a vote ceiling shows up on the page past those dates; treat all three as matters to confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Fayetteville Community's Choice Awards

YourChoiceAwards, a LocaliQ readers-choice platform, runs the Fayetteville Community's Choice Awards at yourchoiceawards.com/fayetteville/, covering roughly 140 local business categories through a nominate-then-vote structure. Fayetteville and the surrounding Cumberland County area are the confirmed coverage zone, with exact nomination dates and vote rules published only on the live site each cycle.

Mount Airy News Mountie Awards

Mount Airy · Mt Airy News

Unlike a statewide ballot that runs every single year without a break, Mount Airy's own Mountie Awards has three confirmed editions on the books, 2023, 2025 and 2026, with no 2026 falling exactly where a strict annual pattern would predict it, since 2024 never shows up in between. Mt Airy News runs the ballot at mtairynews.secondstreetapp.com on Second Street, and the 2026 round opened January 30 and closed March 2. How many categories the ballot carries, and how often one supporter may vote, is not printed there; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Raleigh's Best

The News & Observer's annual Raleigh readers-choice awards, open public voting across 100+ categories with no nomination round, pulling 366,000+ votes in the 2025 cycle.

RoCo Gold Peoples' Choice

Salisbury, North Carolina's daily newspaper, the Salisbury Post, runs RoCo Gold Peoples' Choice on a Second Street ballot hosted at salisburypost3.secondstreetapp.com. Two editions are confirmed, 2025 and 2026, and instead of splitting nomination from voting into separate stretches, this program keeps both inside one continuous window: the 2026 run is confirmed open July 23 through September 11. A category roster and a limit on votes per supporter are both missing past that window, so confirm on the live ballot each cycle before promising either detail to a supporter.

Stokes News Readers' Choice

Stokes News runs Stokes News Readers' Choice for Stokes County, North Carolina, at stokesnews.secondstreetapp.com on the SecondStreet platform. Three editions are confirmed so far, 2024 through 2026, with the 2026 ballot running June 16 through July 14, 2026. Past that window, Stokes News's own live page is what actually settles any category list or vote cap, confirmed fresh each cycle.

The Pilot Star of the Year

Unlike Best of North Carolina, run by a different organizer, The Pilot Star of the Year is Southern Pines' own ballot, hosted on Second Street at pilot.secondstreetapp.com through The Pilot Promotions. The program has run twice so far, in 2025 and again in 2026 as Star of the Year '26, with voting held May 23 through May 29, 2026. That window has closed; categories and a vote limit stay unlisted, confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

WNC Magazine Choice Awards

WNC Magazine's annual Choice Awards for Western North Carolina, decided entirely by popular vote across roughly 50-plus categories at choice.wncmagazine.com. No judged shortlist is documented; winners are published each year in the magazine's print Winter issue rather than posted immediately online after voting closes.

WNCT Bucks-n-Ducks Photo Contest

Entries and public voting for the WNCT Bucks-n-Ducks Photo Contest run September 13, 2026 through January 1, 2027, hosted by WNCT-TV on the Second Street platform at wnct.secondstreetapp.com. Only one edition is confirmed so far; whether the contest comes back next year is not yet published; confirm on the live ballot each cycle. A category list and any per-voter cap: confirm both there too.

Yadkin Ripple Readers' Choice Awards

Set against Best of North Carolina's statewide reach, the Yadkin Ripple Readers' Choice Awards stays a single newspaper's own ballot, run by The Yadkin Ripple through Second Street at theyadkinripple.secondstreetapp.com. Confirmed editions cover 2025 into 2026, and the most recent voting stretch, July 15 through August 11, sits closed for now. No printed category roster or per-voter rule shows up on the page; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Miss North Carolina People's Choice

Miss North Carolina People's Choice is a statewide pageant fundraiser vote run directly by the Miss North Carolina Organization at missnc.org/peopleschoice. Two confirmed editions stand behind it, 2024 and 2025, with voting historically opening in May and closing in June. Support is collected as a payment rather than a free click, the live page names Venmo, handle @mncorg, for support submitted online, and cash for support submitted in person at the State Competition. No single city anchors this program; confirm the category roster, per-voter cap and exact 2026 dates on the live ballot each cycle.

Mount Airy News Cutest Pet Contest

Unlike a statewide business ballot, the Mount Airy News Cutest Pet Contest asks Surry County pet owners to submit a photo and asks the public to vote for their favorite, hosted at mtairynews.secondstreetapp.com. Six confirmed editions run 2020 through 2025, the most recent open October 22 through November 26, 2025, since closed. Past that window, no category list or vote limit is published; confirm both on the live ballot each cycle.

O.Henry Pet Photo Contest

North Carolina's O.Henry Pet Photo Contest is a pet-photo public vote run through The Pilot Promotions on Second Street, hosted at pilot.secondstreetapp.com under the O.Henry Magazine banner. Two confirmed editions exist, 2024 and 2026, with the most recent round open May 19 through June 12, 2026, now closed. Whether entries split into categories, or what limit applies per voter, stays unstated on the account; confirm both on the live ballot each cycle.

The Pilot Cutest Kids and Pets Contest

The Pilot Promotions runs a North Carolina photo vote for kids and pets on the Second Street network, listed on the platform itself as CFA Cutest Kids & Pets 2025 at pilot.secondstreetapp.com. Two editions are confirmed so far, 2023 and 2025, and the most recent ran January 2 through January 24, 2025, already closed. No published roster of categories and no daily-vote rule exist on that page; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.