I voted several times during this campaign @surpassinggoogle. Honestly, and legitimately.
In the end it seems like perhaps Steem lost out to an unexpected challenger from the back of the list, "INS" coin. I can't believe they came from nowhere and suddenly went past Steem in the last couple of hours, with thousands of votes in just a few hours. With 4 hours to go, we were 1500 votes ahead, when the voting closed, we were over 1000 votes behind.
I base my life on positive thinking and helping people, but I find it hard to stay positive about this AND to believe that there wasn't some kind of manipulation or vote buying going on with the competition.
I suppose when the announcement comes, we will know.
Bright Blessings!