Hey Stacy. Thank you for reaching out. You will have to request an official set of rules from the company that hosted the contest. Then see what the rules are regarding the voting process. Instagram also has their own set of rules regarding contests – https://help.instagram.com/179379842258600

If you can prove that the voting system was broken, then you can approach the company. However, you must understand that they will have to incur costs for re-doing the campaign and they must strip the prize from the 1st place winner. This will be a massive undertaking for them. So you will need a lot of evidence on your end to push them towards this.

It may not be worth your time and money to pursue this further legally as well as the costs incurred by your lawyer may not be worth the first place prize.

The mechanism for the voting process was not explained, nor was it made clear how the company selected the finalists from the hundreds of submissions. Additionally, those chosen to participate in the final voting were not informed prior to the event. Voting was conducted through Instagram Stories, which limited participants’ ability to view the entries, given the brief duration and space constraints of the platform.

The voting mechanism displayed each baked good’s name, and by tapping on it, voters could cast their votes, which were supposed to reflect the current voting percentages in real time. However, there were significant issues with the voting box, including reports from many voters that their votes were not registered and that the vote percentages failed to update. Furthermore, the voting box obscured several photos, limiting voters’ ability to view the entries clearly, yet these complaints went unaddressed by the company.

Despite this, I ultimately achieved 2nd place based on the final vote count. However, the company has not responded to my inquiries regarding the winner’s list. Is there anything legally that I can do at this point? The company is based out of California.

You can do something similar to the Ridge Giveaway. Allow people to enter your giveaway for free. They must just submit email addresses or phone numbers to enter. Asking them to pay for a service to enter may not be legal. You can perhaps award bonus points or entries for every service they do with you.

I will need more info to properly answer. However, that user can be disqualified for cheating if the rules states this.