Jacksonville Progress Readers' Choice: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the Jacksonville Progress Readers' Choice and who runs it?

The Jacksonville Progress Readers' Choice is a reader-voted best-of ballot run by the Jacksonville Progress, the newspaper published in Jacksonville, Texas, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. The program is filed under the best-of vertical, which makes it a local readers' vote rather than a sports or fan poll.

The online ballot sits on the Second Street site at the program's voting address. Anyone who opens that ballot can take part, which makes it a plain public vote. No jury or panel scores the entries, and the newspaper sets the categories and rules.

Jacksonville is the only city the ballot data names for this program, and the newspaper is the organizer that gives the contest its local character.

Readers looking for the wider picture of Texas ballots can start with the Texas contests index, which lists the other best-of ballots in the state.

When did the Jacksonville Progress Readers' Choice run, and what is confirmed?

Four years are confirmed for this ballot: 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026. The most recent round with dated information is the 2025 round, which ran from September 7 to September 21, 2025. Those are the only voting dates on file, so they anchor any timing question.

The organizer's pattern points to a 2027 round, but no 2027 date has been announced. The 2026 round has no dates on file here, and the 2022 and 2023 rounds are confirmed without published windows. Any change to those dates should be checked on the live ballot.

How does a supporter vote on the ballot today?

A supporter opens the Jacksonville Progress Readers' Choice ballot on Second Street, finds the category that fits the business or service they want to back, and selects one entry in it. The choice is submitted on the ballot page itself, and the page then confirms the submission.

The newspaper has not published a category list for this ballot, so supporters should read the category headings on the live page before they choose. Nomination steps are not described on the ballot details used here, so the voting step is the one part with a confirmed mechanic.

Because the mechanic is a public vote, a reader does not need a jury invitation or a special role to take part. The ballot shows the same options to every visitor, and the choice a reader makes is the one the ballot page holds for that round.

A reader who wants to back a business should first check which category heading matches the business. Choosing the wrong heading is the most common reason a nomination lands in the wrong place, so a short look at the category names before submitting saves a second round of effort. The ballot is an online page, so the same steps apply on a desktop computer and on a phone.

How does this readers ballot sit beside the other Texas best-of polls?

The Jacksonville Progress ballot is one of six best-of readers ballots in the sibling list for Texas. The others are the Best of Austin Readers Poll, the Best of Dallas Readers' Choice, the Best of El Paso, the Best of Houston, the Best of San Antonio and the Best of Fort Worth.

What sets this ballot apart is its market. It is run by the Jacksonville Progress in Jacksonville, so the field of nominees is tied to that one town. Each sibling has its own organizer, platform and voting window, and none of them should be read as the same contest.

A reader who follows more than one Texas ballot should keep a separate note of each organizer's name, each platform and each round. Mixing the Jacksonville round with a Dallas or Houston round is an easy mistake, because all of these ballots use the same best-of label.

How can a local business build support for its nomination?

The most useful step for a local business is to tell customers which category to pick and when the round is open. The 2025 window ran from September 7 to September 21, so a reminder sent before the start date gives readers time to find the right heading on the ballot.

Organic outreach works better than any shortcut. Ask regulars to vote in person at the counter, post the ballot link on the business's own pages and explain what the category means in plain words. The get more votes online guide covers honest outreach in more detail. The newspaper's rules govern what counts, so review them before you promote a link.

If you are weighing a paid option, the best-of business votes page explains what those services offer. Treat any paid service as a separate decision from the organizer's rules, because the Jacksonville Progress decides which votes count on its ballot.

A practical plan for a small business is to pick one category, confirm its heading on the live ballot, write a short note for staff to share and set a reminder for the September window if the next round follows the 2025 pattern. Those steps stay inside the organizer's rules and cost nothing beyond staff time.