Washington Online Voting Contests

News Tribune Girls Athlete of the Week (Tacoma)

Tacoma · Tacoma News Tribune (thenewstribune.com)

The Tacoma News Tribune's dedicated girls fan vote, separate from its combined Athlete of the Week ballot, built from coach nominations across basketball, soccer, track, volleyball, and swimming, closing Wednesday at noon.

Seattle Sports Star of the Year

The Seattle Sports Commission's annual statewide fan vote honoring Washington's top professional, college, and amateur athletes, Seahawks, Sounders, Storm, and Huskies/Cougars fans vote once per day through mid-February, with winners revealed at a live awards event in March.

Tacoma News Tribune Athlete of the Week

Tacoma · The News Tribune

The News Tribune's weekly South Sound fan vote covers every sport, all year, with nominees drawn from Tacoma, Pierce County, and surrounding communities — and closes Wednesday at noon, not Sunday, which changes the whole campaign.

VarsityWA Basketball Athlete of the Week

VarsityWA's weekly reader poll on the independent Substack publication varsitywanews.com, run by Todd Milles. Ten nominees per week — boys and girls on the same ballot, all WIAA classifications together — unlimited votes with a Friday noon close, running December through early March during the Washington basketball season.

VarsityWA Football Athlete of the Week

VarsityWA's weekly reader poll on the independent Substack publication varsitywanews.com, run by Todd Milles. Ten nominees per week, all WIAA classifications together, unlimited votes — and a Friday noon close that makes it the fastest-turning weekly football poll in Washington state.

Washington High School Athlete of the Week

Statewide Washington · High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive)

Statewide weekly fan-vote poll run by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive) at si.com, recognising standout Washington WIAA high school athletes each sports season. Free, unlimited manual votes, poll closes Sunday at 11:59 pm PT.

Washington High School Football Player of the Week

Washington runs two genuinely different statewide high school football fan votes: SI / High School on SI draws ~20 nominees and closes Monday 11:59 p.m. PT, while VarsityWA (Todd Milles on Substack) takes 10 nominees and closes Friday noon. Both are unlimited. The gap in deadline and field size shapes everything about how campaigns here work.

Best in the PNW

The Seattle Times' annual Best in the PNW readers-choice awards at votethepnw.com, spanning 298 categories across Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, and Everett. The 2025 cycle logged 944,000 votes, an 84% jump over the prior year, and the 2026 ballot is active now.

Best of 425

425 Magazine's Eastside readers' awards, a nominate-then-vote ballot across restaurant, arts, and retail categories covering Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Sammamish, Bothell, and Woodinville.

Best of Auburn

Auburn, Washington shoppers can vote right now in Best of Auburn 2026, the Auburn Reporter's readers'-choice ballot hosted on Second Street at auburnreporter2.secondstreetapp.com. The 2026 window opened August 21 and stays open through October 3, the third confirmed edition after 2024 and 2025. Nothing published names a ballot roster or sets a per-supporter voting limit; confirm both on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of Central Kitsap

Kitsap · Kitsap Daily News

Unlike Best of Western Washington, a broadcaster-run statewide poll, Best of Central Kitsap is Kitsap Daily News' own community ballot at kitsap.secondstreetapp.com, built for the Central Kitsap market in Washington state. Its confirmed history runs to just two cycles, 2025 and 2026, the latter opening June 15 and closing July 27, 2026. Category names and any per-voter limit stay off the page; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of Clark County

The Columbian's 18th annual Best of Clark County awards, a nominate-then-vote readers' poll spanning 100+ categories across Vancouver and Clark County, Washington.

Best of Kent

Where does a Best of Kent supporter actually vote? At kentreporter2.secondstreetapp.com, where Kent, Washington's community newspaper the Kent Reporter runs a single combined nomination and voting ballot. Three confirmed editions stand behind the program, 2024 through 2026, with the current cycle open August 21 through October 3, 2026. Which categories exist and how many times a supporter may return are both left for the live listing to answer; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of North Kitsap

Kitsap · Kitsap Daily News

For readers across the North Kitsap market in Washington state, Kitsap Daily News runs one business ballot on Second Street, Best of North Kitsap, at kitsap.secondstreetapp.com. Two cycles make up its confirmed history, an edition in 2025 and the 2026 run that opened June 15 and closed July 27, 2026. Categories and a per-voter rule are not printed there; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of Renton (Renton Reporter)

The Renton Reporter publishes Best of Renton, a readers'-choice ballot for Renton, Washington, hosted on Second Street ballot software at rentonreporter2.secondstreetapp.com. Two editions have run so far, 2025 (open March 31 through May 31) and 2026 (open February 26 through May 1). Winners get an awards gala hosted by the Renton Chamber of Commerce. How many categories run, and how often one person may vote, is not stated; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of Snohomish County

The Daily Herald's annual HeraldNet reader poll across every local business category, with winners published as "You voted" articles covering Everett, Marysville, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mukilteo, and Mountlake Terrace.

Best of South Kitsap

Kitsap · Kitsap Daily News

South Kitsap, Washington's Best of South Kitsap runs at kitsap.secondstreetapp.com, organized by Kitsap Daily News. Two cycles are confirmed so far, an edition in 2025 and a 2026 run that opened June 15 and closed July 27, 2026, now finished. Past that closing date, no category list or per-voter rule appears on the page; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of the Best Northwest Readers' Choice

Seattle Medium's Best of the Best Northwest Readers' Choice awards run as an online public vote at bestofthebestnorthwest.com from June 1 through June 19, 2026, spanning five nominee tracks, businesses, nonprofits, educators, athletes, and cultural institutions, across Seattle and the wider Pacific Northwest region.

Best of the Inland Northwest

The Inlander's Best of the Inland Northwest is a pure write-in readers' poll covering Spokane and the Coeur d'Alene area, voted each February at bestof.inlander.com, now in its 33rd year, with winners announced March 25 and published in the paper's March 26 print issue.

Best of the Plateau

Enumclaw, Washington's Best of the Plateau runs on the Second Street platform at enumclawcourierherald.secondstreetapp.com, organized by the Enumclaw Courier-Herald. The same organizer ran a differently named ballot, Best of Enumclaw, in 2025; Best of the Plateau is a new title, with one confirmed window so far, August 12 through October 8, 2026. This is the program's first confirmed edition under this name; no category list or vote cap has been published, and whether it returns next year is not yet stated; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Best of Western Washington

Annual KING 5 Evening Magazine viewers' poll for Western Washington businesses, with a month-long October ballot and write-in categories across the Puget Sound region.

Best of WNT

Nominations and voting for Best of WNT run September 1 through November 1, 2026, on whidbeynews-times.secondstreetapp.com. Whidbey Island's community newspaper, the Whidbey News-Times, folds both stages into one combined ballot rather than separating them. Two confirmed editions back the program, 2025 and 2026. Whether the ballot sorts entries into categories, or caps how often a supporter can return, is not published; confirm both on the live ballot each cycle.

Cascade's Best

Cascade's Best is the Bellingham Herald's community-vote program for Northwest Washington businesses at cascadesbest.com, distinct from Washington's Seattle-focused readers-choice ballots. Confirmed coverage spans Bellingham and the wider Whatcom County market; a category count and vote cap are not published.

CommunityVotes Bellingham

A local CommunityVotes franchise brings Bellingham, Washington its own nominate-and-vote ballot at bellingham.communityvotes.com. 2026 marks the platform's second confirmed cycle here, and the live page fixes voting between 6:00 am Wednesday, August 12 and 11:59 pm Sunday, September 13. A voter may back several businesses inside one category, submitting that slate once per registered e-mail address. Category detail and any nomination-phase calendar are settled on the live ballot each cycle.

CommunityVotes Kent

kent.communityvotes.com carries Kent, Washington's CommunityVotes ballot, put together by a local partner working the Kent market. Its own page already shows the 2026 round wrapped, results posted in August, its second confirmed year following a 2025 debut. Two paying sponsors, Valley Property Services and El Ranchito Con Sabor a Mexico, sit in a capped promotional slot beside the results; categories and any per-voter limit stay off that page.

CommunityVotes Renton

Renton, Washington's CommunityVotes ballot runs at renton.communityvotes.com under a local partner. Three confirmed years back it, 2024 through 2026, longer than several nearby CommunityVotes markets, with the 2026 round's results posted in August. Winners who order an award should plan on a six-to-eight-week wait for it to arrive. The page sets no category list and states no per-voter limit for supporters.

CommunityVotes Vancouver WA

The name Vancouver belongs to more than one city, and vancouverwa.communityvotes.com is the address that pins this CommunityVotes ballot to Vancouver, Washington, run by a local partner as its own Southwest Washington market. Two confirmed years back it, 2025 and 2026, with the 2026 round's results posted in August. The page never lists the ballot's categories, and it stays silent on whether a supporter can vote more than once; confirm both on the live ballot each cycle.

Seattle Readers' Choice

Seattle Magazine's annual Readers' Choice awards run as an online ballot at seattlemag.com across 100+ categories, with winners printed each year in the magazine's November/December issue rather than posted to a live leaderboard.

Snoqualmie Valley Record Best of the Valley

Snoqualmie Valley Record, a Washington newspaper, runs Best of the Valley, a readers'-choice business ballot for the Snoqualmie Valley area at snoqualmievalleyrecord.secondstreetapp.com, on the Second Street platform rather than CommunityVotes. Two confirmed editions exist: a voting-only round in 2025, closed October 27, 2025, and a combined nomination-and-voting round for 2026, open July 17 through October 1. How many categories run, and how often one person may vote, is not stated; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Tri-Cities Best

The Tri-City Herald's relaunched People's Choice readers-choice program covering Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco in southeastern Washington, voted at tri-citiesbest.com, with category lists and close dates confirmed only on the live site each cycle.

Yakima Herald-Republic Readers' Choice

Yakima · Yakima Herald-Republic

The Yakima Herald-Republic runs its Readers Choice ballot directly on its own site at yakimaherald.com, skipping the outside voting platforms many newspapers use instead. The ballot has run twice so far, in 2025 and again in 2026, and the newspaper's own page states that voting opens July 1. Nothing about which categories the newspaper judges, or how many times a supporter may click through, appears anywhere on that listing; confirm on the live ballot each cycle for whatever a Yakima entrant or supporter needs before casting a vote.