Valley News Readers' Choice: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the Valley News Readers' Choice and who runs it?

The Valley News Readers' Choice is a reader-driven celebration of local businesses in the newspaper's home market. The Valley News itself publishes as a six-day morning daily based in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and its coverage reaches across the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont, so the ballot speaks to a readership spanning both sides of that state line.

Second Street supplies the ballot software. Its 2026 Readers Choice ballot sits at https://valleynews.secondstreetapp.com/2026-Readers-Choice/, and the page greets visitors with a plain invitation: "Support your favorite local businesses today!" That framing tells you the vertical at a glance. This is a best-of contest for enterprises, not a sports poll or a photo bracket, and the nominees are the kinds of businesses a daily paper's readers deal with every week.

Which editions are confirmed, and when did the 2026 round run?

The program's published history rests on the 2024 and 2026 editions. For the launch, the Upper Valley Business Alliance stated its role plainly: "In 2024, UVBA partnered with the Valley News to host the first Reader's Choice Awards to recognize businesses who are voted by the readers to be the best of the Upper Valley." That sentence fixes both the starting year and the alliance's part in it, and it is why the 2024 round counts as the program's first.

The 2026 edition carried the title 2026 Readers Choice and accepted votes from August 10, 2026 through September 7, 2026. Those bounds come straight from the ballot itself, which makes them the firmest dates attached to the program. Between the launch and the current cycle, neither the newspaper nor the alliance points to a 2025 round.

Ahead lies a 2027 edition as the natural next step, though the Valley News has announced no schedule for it. Several operational facts also stay off the ballot page: the Valley News names no category roster, prints no per-supporter voting rule, and describes no nomination stage ahead of the round; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

How does a supporter fill out the 2026 Readers Choice ballot?

Start from the ballot address listed above, ideally while the round is live so the page serves its working form. From there the job is simple: mark a favorite among the local businesses offered in each category you want to answer, then send the form. Nothing about the exercise demands special knowledge. Whoever you rate highest among the Upper Valley's enterprises, that judgment is what the ballot collects.

The venue matters less than people assume. Because the ballot is a standard website, the same Second Street form opens whether you arrive by phone or laptop, and no separate app enters the picture.

Two practical unknowns deserve honesty. How frequently a single person may submit, and whether any verification attaches to entries, is left unstated by the organizer. The ballot itself settles those questions in practice, because whatever limit exists becomes visible the moment you use it. Timing, meanwhile, outweighs technique: support registered on the opening day in August counts the same as support registered just before the September close, so the only deadline that truly changes anything is the round's final day.

Where does this ballot fit among New Hampshire reader polls?

New Hampshire sustains a busy best-of scene, and the Readers Choice occupies a distinct corner of it. Its anchor is a single institution, the Valley News and the Upper Valley readership it serves, with a footprint that crosses into Vermont rather than stopping at one state's border.

Elsewhere on this site you will find Best of Mount Washington Valley, Best of NH, Best of the Lakes Region, Best of the Seacoast, CommunityVotes Manchester, and a second statewide listing under Best of NH at its own route. Those programs serve the White Mountains, the whole state, the lakes, the coast and the state's largest city respectively.

Three traits separate the Upper Valley ballot from those neighbours. It belongs to a daily newspaper rather than to a standalone award brand. It draws on a market that spills over the Vermont line. And its origin story runs through a formal partnership with a business alliance, which shaped how the first round was presented to readers.

What can a business do to strengthen its Readers Choice standing?

Everything a business controls happens inside the voting round, so plan outreach around the ballot's open and close. Tell loyal customers as soon as the round begins, then send a second reminder before the final days, because good intentions fade long before a deadline arrives. A steady drumbeat across the whole stretch beats a single blast.

No guidance from the Valley News addresses outside help during the Readers Choice round, so a business weighing purchased support should read the organizer's posted instructions first and the wider legal picture second. Businesses that prefer to earn support outright can work through promotion methods that cost effort rather than money, while those comparing providers can review award-ballot support options. Whichever path a business takes, its finishing position reflects the total support gathered, and no vendor can promise an outcome.