Miley Cyrus currently leading TIME magazine Person of the Year poll

The magazine’s online reader poll appears to show that the ‘Wrecking Ball’ singer is more influential to the news than people like President Obama, Edward Snowden and the Pope.

Miley Cyrus is the front runner of TIME magazine's Person of the Year online poll. The "Wrecking Ball" singer has indeed been experiencing commercial success this year with a new album and her antics both on and off stage.

Cyrus garnered 28 percent of the votes as of Wednesday, November 27. She is ahead of such people as former NSA defense contractor Edward Snowden, Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat Narendra Modi and President of Syria Bashar al-Assad. If learning from past polls, politicians have the tendency to win.

Cyrus' inclusion in the top 5 and her temporary leadership have sparked speculation that the poll is rigged. A pair of programmers claimed they could cast multiple votes for Cyrus in an effort to make a mockery of Poptip Poll. However, TIME told Mashable that they are aware of the situation.

"Time and Poptip are aware of the efforts to affect the results of the Person of the Year poll, and have measures in place so that only legitimate votes are being incorporated in the final tally," a Time spokesperson said. "We're delighted that so many people are having fun with this informal poll and contributing to the conversation [about who should win]. "

TIME added Twitter this year to encourage more participation and broaden the horizon. Poll winner will be revealed on December 6. Cyrus may be on the lead but Person of the Year will be picked by editors and announced on December 11.