Final Ballot
In truth, the player closest to Ronaldo in sheer quality, at least recently, was not on the final ballot: Liverpool’s Luis Suárez, who has scored 22 goals in 16 English Premier League games this season.
( Source: NYTimes | Ronaldo Dethrones Messi as World Player of Year )
I get the feeling this award becomes less and less relevant every year.
Which makes it interesting that Ronaldo won the award (deservedly) this year.