well, I have to lay my opinion in also.
Please no one take this personally!
First of all, the mighty fine pictures on this website are only available for registered users, and you all know that one pic is worth a thousand words right? that might be one of the key reasons.
Then as to BOM, I have to say that some people are here just for the information and knowledge, not for a competition won by looks and a billion coat's of tru oil.. I for one hold the info more important that BOM. Don't get me wrong Don, you have done one hell of a job here, and I understand that it is necessary to hold this, since the winner is always featured in the new PA magazine. It's just that some people don't care about looks or stories that much.
Then what comes to the number of voters.. I have to say that this core group of users who have posted several hundreds of posts are the votes that really count in my book. This is because it is those users mainly who really know their stuff somehow (nobody's perfect).
And I think it might be better off this way, because if all 1310 members voted, the winner would be the one with most tru oil and decorations on his or her bow. So maybe it's better that only the core group votes frequently. Most of the bows have a story too, and I bet that all members are not motivated enough to read all the stories of the bows in the competition, and thus the prettiest one would win, and not the most special or characteristic one.