Winston-Salem Journal Readers' Choice: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the Winston-Salem Journal Readers' Choice and who runs it?

The Winston-Salem Journal Readers' Choice is a readers' vote for Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Winston-Salem Journal runs it, and the ballot sits on the Second Street platform under the journalnow address. The program invites readers to name restaurants, businesses, non-profits and retail shops they favor.

Because a newspaper runs the vote, the Journal's own announcements are the authority on stages and results. The 2019 page is the one the material describes in detail, so readers should check the current year's page before assuming the older rules still apply.

Which years are confirmed, and what stages does the vote follow?

Editions for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2025 and 2026 are confirmed, which makes this one of the longer-running readers' votes in this set. The 2019 announcement is the most detailed dated item in the material, and it opened voting and nominations for restaurants, businesses, non-profits and retail shops.

The years between 2020 and 2025 are not confirmed here, so the timeline does not fill them in. The current window is not printed in the material used for this guide; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

How does a reader vote in the Journal's ballot today?

A reader opens the Second Street ballot, checks which stage is open, and then either nominates a favorite or votes for one of the nominated businesses. The Journal's own announcement describes the vote as open to readers who want to name their favorite local spots.

The material does not describe the nomination form, the number of picks allowed, or whether an account is required, so those details belong to the ballot itself. The two stages are the mechanics stated with confidence here.

No per-voter limit or repeat-vote rule is printed in the text behind this section. A reader should read the instructions on the ballot before voting, since those are the only place the Journal's terms are set out.

Readers often ask whether a nomination carries forward into the vote. The material does not say, so a reader should check the ballot's own description of its stages before assuming that any business nominated earlier will appear in the later round.

How does the Journal's readers' vote compare with other North Carolina best-of ballots?

The Winston-Salem Journal Readers' Choice sits beside several North Carolina best-of and awards programs in this set. Its distinguishing feature is that a regional newspaper runs a readers' vote for one city, while several siblings belong to magazines, newspapers in other cities or readership contests tied to sports.

A reader comparing these ballots should look at the publisher first. This vote is the Journal's own Winston-Salem readers' contest, while the siblings belong to other cities or to publishers with their own formats.

How can a Winston-Salem business build support for its nomination?

A readers' vote responds best to outreach that keeps to the Journal's instructions. A business can tell customers that nominations and voting are open on the ballot, link them to the Second Street page, and ask them to read the stage instructions first. A nominee's strongest case is its own service to Winston-Salem, which readers can weigh for themselves.

Commercial vote packages exist for many readers' ballots, yet the Journal material says nothing about purchased votes, and an outside seller cannot predict how the newspaper would count them. Review the Journal's rules first, then read how paid vote options are described before making any decision. For free ways to encourage support, the guide to getting more votes online covers outreach that respects a ballot's instructions.

Businesses that receive a readers' nomination can share the Journal's coverage with staff and customers, provided the post points to the ballot and does not describe the tally. A simple, accurate link does more for a nominee than a claim about its position on any list.

Readers who follow the Journal's ballot across several years will notice that the confirmed editions are unevenly spaced. The confirmed years show readers' votes for restaurants, businesses, non-profits and retail shops, while the gap between 2020 and 2025 is left open rather than filled with assumptions. A reader who wants the current rules should begin with the Second Street page and check the year printed at the top, because older announcements describe older stages. Treating each year on its own terms is the most accurate way to read this program.

A newspaper readers' vote depends on its readers, and the Journal's name is the reason many people trust the ballot in the first place. Anyone reading the program should keep that trust in view and avoid any step that would undercut it, such as sharing a ballot link with instructions the Journal does not give. Staying within the stated stages protects both the nominee and the paper, and it keeps the vote something the community can recognize as its own.