In all honesty, the extreme exclusivity the rule created is why so many people never voted. Even when matches that they could vote in came around, they'd probably not even been following the contest.
It's your contest; run it how you want. But you said the rule was open for change so I just offered an alternate solution.
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[NO BARKLEY NO PEACE] Ace Detective in Sir Charles's Police
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkOj5DAJu2A