Resolve to Vote

Are your New Year’s resolutions already starting to wear thin even though you’re not? Then welcome a new fresh start by participating in the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s annual Best of Las Vegas poll.

Don’t always settle for the same old picks. Use the ballot as a springboard to try new places — and then tell us about them.

This whole voting thing can be fun if you let it.

The poll again is divided into three parts that will run three times in the Review-Journal during the next three weeks.

You can fill out this ballot (another one will appear Thursday) and return it to us, or you can respond online at www.lvrj.com/bestoflv.

The deadline for all of the first ballots is 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18.

The second series of ballots — featuring Best Hotels and Best Entertainment — will appear on Sunday, Jan. 18 and 21, with a final deadline of 5 p.m. Jan. 25. (The online ballot will run from Sunday, Jan. 17, through Jan. 25.)

The last series of ballots — featuring Best Shopping, Best Sports Spots, Best People and Best of the Worst — will be published Jan. 24, 25 and 28, with a final deadline of 5 p.m. Feb. 1. (It will be online from Jan. 24 through Feb. 1.)

On paper or online, you can vote in each category only once. That means a total of three ballots over three weeks to complete the entire poll (we just love the number three).

Because we are making the ballot so accessible, there is no reason to make a photocopy and we will not accept them.

On behalf of our ballot counters, we ask those of you with pen and paper to write legibly.

This first set of ballots includes Best Eat and Drink (not in hotels, however; those come later to keep things lively) and Best Locations.

Eat and Drink features 34 categories, including the popular hamburger, pizza, deli and Chinese restaurant.

Locations is back with 17 decisions to make, including Best Museum and Best Nevada Getaway.

You can mail your ballots to Best of Las Vegas, Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125 or go online at www.lvrj.com/bestoflv.

If the sheer fun of this is not enough, there are valuable prizes. The key is to sign your name, address and phone number — ever so legibly in the case of paper balloteers — for a random drawing.

Prizes include: two tickets to see the Best All-Around Performer; two tickets for the Best Show; dinner for two at the Best Gourmet Restaurant in a hotel; dinner for two in the Best Gourmet Restaurant not in a hotel; lunch for two at the Best Place for a Power Lunch; a gift certificate to the Best Mall; and a grand prize of a night on the town, including dinner, a show and an overnight stay at a local hotel.

Results of the Best of Las Vegas poll will appear in the Review-Journal and its Web site on March 28.