Bernie Sanders just won the poll for Time magazine's Person of the Year

Bernie Sanders is the top choice of Time magazine’s readers for Person of the Year.

The senator and Democratic presidential contender won comfortably with 10.2 percent of the vote in an online poll. The closest runners-up were Malala Yousafzai (5.2 percent), Pope Francis (3.7 percent), and Barack Obama (3.5 percent)—all of whom have either won or been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Sanders’ campaign has been driven by a large network of motivated grassroots supporters, whose engagement may have helped him win.

The poll doesn’t affect the magazine’s decision about who will ultimately get the Person of Year designation. That will be announced Wednesday. On the short list are Donald Trump, Caitlyn Jenner, Black Lives Matter activists, and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Over the years, Time has been criticized for some of its more gimmicky choices. (My C.V. still boasts that I was Time’s Person of the Year in 2006.) In its 88-year history, the magazine has nominated everyone from Adolf Hitler (1938) to “the computer” (1982). At times the magazine has also opted for broad categories of people, like “the protester” (2011) and “Ebola fighters” (2014).