How are we not? It's a vote. Right now, we don't know how many characters we will get from the ballot. And people will certainly have first picks.
Exactly. We don't know how many characters. Insinuating there are "slots" to fit in, and that such a context naturally suggests competition, is a slippery slope that leads to the community descending into a hair-pulling contest.
Sakurai's not daft enough to automatically pick whichever characters have the highest tally of votes. Otherwise Ridley would be guaranteed and we'd have Goku in the roster. The purpose of the ballot, as far as anybody can tell, is to demonstrate
why we want these characters, and how
well they'd work in Smash. If they wanted to know numbers, they'd just read the countless amateur polls floating in the ether, and there wouldn't be a comment box on the voting ticket.
Point is, it's more than just a vote. It's a chance to have our voices heard in a context where Sakurai and co. will actually listen. Dismissing less popular characters because they're less likely to get as many votes as certain others defeats the entire purpose of the project.
It's certainly a competition, and we ARE competing for slots. Anyone who says we aren't doesn't understand what a poll is. It's like saying there's no competition in Presidential elections or any elections.
Not even remotely comparable, and I'll demonstrate why if you so choose.