If it were a vote or survey of people who are actually knowledgeable about intellectuals, then it would mean something to me... for example, if the voters were members of the society, or subscribers to the magazine that sponsored the survey. Otherwise, if it's just a popularity contest that anyone in the world can participate in (and game the system by using different computers to vote multiple times, etc.), and it's subject to "stuffing the ballot box," like American Idol or such shows. Also, I'm unclear as to what a "public intellectual" is (are there "private" intellectuals?).

of experts or anything... It was an online poll that people voted on. Kind of like the Time.com poll a few years back that sought to identify the most important person of the century, and the top vote-getter was apparently the founder of the modern Turkish state... the result of a vigorous "get out the vote" effort.