What Is the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Readers' Choice Contest?
The Readers' Choice contest is the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin's reader-voted best-of
competition for the Inland Valley market of California. It publishes under the Southern
California News Group umbrella, whose 2026 copyright line ties the Daily Bulletin masthead
directly to SCNG, and it trades on the rules page under the banner Best of the Inland Valley.
Two addresses define the program's web presence: the governing rules text sits at
dailybulletin.readerschoice.la/rules/ on the ReadersChoice.LA platform, while the entry ballot
is hosted at scng.com/votenow.
Scale and shape of the 2026 ballot
The current edition runs wide. Top-level headings include Automotive, Education, Food & Drink,
Health & Wellness, Home Goods & Services, Legal, Shopping, Specialty Services and Things to Go
& Do. The rules page splits the home segment further, into MY HOME GOODS & SERVICES and NON
HOME GOODS & SERVICES, beside ORGANIZATIONS & SHOWS and PEOPLE PLACES, which hints at how far
the ballot reaches beyond straightforward retail. Because the mechanic is a public vote, the
outcome in each category rests on the choices supporters submit, not on a judging panel.
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Organizer | Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (SCNG) |
| Program brand | Best of the Inland Valley |
| Ballot platform | ReadersChoice.LA |
| Rules page | dailybulletin.readerschoice.la/rules/ |
| Entry ballot | scng.com/votenow |
| Market | Inland Valley, California |
| Category groupings | Automotive through Things to Go & Do |
| Mechanic | Public vote |
Which Dates and Edition Years Define the Program's History?
The program's confirmed editions are 2025 and 2026, back to back, and that pair is what
qualifies it as annual. The 2026 cycle is layered. According to the program's own FAQ page,
write-in nominations ran from January 12, 2026 to February 13, 2026, and voting runs from
February 16, 2026 to March 13, 2026. The printed rules sheet frames entry a little
differently: it tells participants to cast their vote between January 23, 2026 and February
22, 2026, alongside the registration and vote-floor conditions. Read together, the FAQ
describes the full voting run while the rules sheet states the eligibility terms an individual
ballot has to satisfy; where the texts disagree, the date displayed on the live ballot is the
one to follow.
Key fact: The write-in nomination round closed on February 13, 2026, ahead of the February 16 voting start the FAQ prints.
Earlier traces and side channels
Before the confirmed pair, a 2015 partner listing ties the program name, Reader's Choice: Best
of the Inland Valley, to Harkins Chino Hills 18, which points to activity in that year too.
The platform domain also carried an issuu.com promotion titled 2026 IVDB RC, now closed, and a
second confirmed source address for the program sits on sarh.org. What the published material
leaves open is the winners-release date and any eligibility fine print beyond the printed
participation steps; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.
| Stage | Dates | Printed where |
|---|
| Write-in nominations | January 12, 2026 to February 13, 2026 | Program FAQ |
| Voting run | February 16, 2026 to March 13, 2026 | Program FAQ |
| Rules-sheet voting instruction | January 23, 2026 to February 22, 2026 | Official rules page |
How Does Somebody Fill Out the scng.com/votenow Ballot?
Everything begins at scng.com/votenow, the entry address the rules sheet names. A supporter
moves through the category headings, chooses a favorite in each, and where the ballot exposes
a write-in slot can type a nominee in by name; write-ins belonged to the nomination round
described above. The HOW TO ENTER terms then decide whether the submission counts. They
require the online registration form at the end of the ballot on scng.com/votenow to be
completed, and they impose a participation floor that spreads a ballot over several different
categories, so a session devoted to a single favorite does not qualify on its own. Pacing
comes from the FAQ, which allows one vote per day, per category, turning sustained support
into a daily habit rather than a burst of clicks.
Tip: Since the daily allowance refreshes per category, a supporter backing several Inland Valley favorites can cover multiple headings in a sitting and return the next day for another pass.
What leaves a ballot short of eligibility
Skipping the registration form or stopping short of the vote floor fails the printed terms,
so both closing steps deserve as much attention as the picks themselves.
How Does This Ballot Compare With Other California Reader Votes?
California hosts a dense cluster of best-of ballots, and this program's nearest neighbours are
easy to name:
Best of Marin,
Best of Silicon Valley,
Best of Central Valley
Business,
Best of Orange County, the
GGBR Calendar
Contest and
Best of San
Diego & Best Restaurants. Each draws its own geographic line and sets its own rulebook;
this program speaks for the Inland Valley specifically rather than for a whole county or a
metro franchise.
What sets the Daily Bulletin version apart
The organizer is a working newspaper masthead backed by a regional news group, not an events
promoter. The entry terms impose structural demands plenty of ballots skip: a registration
form at the close of the ballot plus a vote floor that stretches a participant across several
different categories. Breadth is the other signature, with groupings running from Automotive
to Things to Go & Do giving even niche Inland Valley businesses a section to compete in.
How Can a Local Business Pull More Support Across the Window?
Support compounds under this ballot's cadence. With one vote per day, per category, a business
that reminds customers each morning collects fresh touches from the same people across the
whole run, and the multi-category floor works in its favor as well, since a supporter who
arrives to back a single shop still has to fill the remaining slots and passes neighboring
categories on the way. Early visibility mattered during the write-in round, when a name
entered on a nomination slot could seed the printed ballot before voting began. The
organizer's published material explains entry mechanics but stays quiet on outside vote
services; businesses weighing that route can study
how supporter drives are structured or read
the wider market for purchased votes before committing.
Either way, the printed mechanics decide what the ballot counts.
