A Sheffield international street artist’s work has been re-ranked as second best in the world for 2024 following the discovery of false voter inflation.
Megan Russel, also known as ‘_peachzz_’ on Instagram has claimed the number two spot of ‘Street Art Cities’ world street art competition.
On her Instagram she said: “I have said it throughout January and I will say it again thank you all so much for your love and support throughout.
“I am still in shock that 5656 people voted for me.”
The world-class mural named ‘Reverie’ is located on the side of the Cubo building which overlooks Ponds Park in Sheffield city centre.
Russel had originally placed fourth in the competition at the beginning of February and received the news of the second place last week.
The mural was commissioned as part of the Sheffield’s Festival of the Outdoors 2024 and was painted in June over ten days before it claimed the top spot in the ‘Best of June’ competition.
The re-vote took place after the contest holders discovered that some users had employed tactics to artificially boost votes for candidates.
Street Art Cities said: “A select few users have engaged in methods to inflate vote counts for certain candidates using means that go against the spirit of our competition.
“Street Art Cities is all about fairness, integrity, and giving the artists the platforms they deserve.”
The organisation has since updated their voting system to prevent further incidents occurring in the future.
They said: “Our awards voting platform already was set up to deal with some common ways people might try to cheat the system
“This includes using a more up-to-date and expansive list of disposable email address providers, putting in place automated alerts for suspicious domains, and more frequent manual checks.”
Russel took to her Instagram to express her shock and gratitude following the replacement.
She said: “Through a crazy turn of events I’m now second place in people’s choice best of 2024 competition which is just absolutely mental to say out loud.”