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. 37% of the votes came from the US, while 17% votes were from India.
Protesters in Ferguson, finished second with 9% of the total votes. They were demonstrating against a grand jury’s decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson who killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August 2014.
The eight finalists for TIME Editor’s ‘Person of the Year’ poll include CEO of the Alibaba Group Jack Ma, Apple CEO Tim Cook, pop star Taylor Swift, Ferguson protestors, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ebola caregivers, National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell and President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Masoud Barzani.