On Lists
Lists create recency bias by elevating whatever the creator decides to highlight. I have seen projects listed incorrectly where they do not belong, while others are completely neglected when deserving. A reputation system, or perhaps the ability for badgeholders to comment directly on applications would be far more constructive. The sheer number of applications (over 600) means that any list created will be prone to error.
On Ballots
There are plenty of deserving projects that have no visibility. I think the quorum is quite arbitrary and it is strange to see some meme projects and small blogs getting more ballots than heavy hitters in the industry. Many projects have resorted to shilling their applications on Discord and X. I think this is enigmatic of a wider visibility issue. I have heard people say that its early and all votes haven’t been casted but if you’re a smaller project you face the risk of not meeting quorum and their is an oppurtunity cost to doing nothing… which is probably why there has been so much feedback