I checked last year's voting for ballon d'or. Unlike the time when France Football was organizing the event and when only the media (sport journalists) voted, this year the media, the coaches and the NT captains voted.
If we count only the votes from the media, then it would have ended like this:
1. Wesley Sneijder 315 points
2. Andres Iniesta 308
3. Xavi 247
4. Lionel Messi 182
5. Diego Forlan 156
If the old France Football system was used, as it was until 2009, Sneijder would have won it and Messi would have been far behind.
But the captains of Comoros, Cook Islands, Gabon, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Swaziland, Vanuatu and similar countries all voted for Messi.