My mod colleagues and I are dismayed to see some recent posts that promote a misconception of this contest.
This is not a popularity contest. You are not asked to reward someone you like or admire, or even to praise an excellent morpher: you are supposed to choose the best morph among those submitted. It may be the submission of an established and widely admired morpher, or it may be the work of an unknown newbie. It is the morph that counts, not the morpher.
It is not that we are questioning your right to vote for whomever you want, because the vote is not for whomever: it is for whichever morph you find best, for whatever criteria you find important.
So when the voting starts in a couple of days, please remember:
VOTE FOR THE MORPH, NOT THE MORPHER