Alongside such notables as Yitzak Rabin and Princess Diana, President Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is holding steady on Time magazine's online poll of the 20th century's most influential people.

      As of Friday, President Hinckley, who is considered a prophet by followers of the 10-million-member church, had received nearly 30,000 votes to rank No. 15 on the Web-based survey.

      Richard Duncan, executive editor of Time.com, said votes for President Hinckley as the magazine's "Most influential Person of the Century" have arrived at a rapid pace.

      "His was a late-coming surge," Duncan said. "He came from nowhere to the top 20. It is obviously an organized effort."

      Indeed, an e-mail encouraging members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to vote for President Hinckley has been passing through the church's ranks.

      The e-mail message explains Time's search for input on the century's best denizens and gives the survey's Web address www.pathfinder.com/time/time100/poc/century.html.

      "Let's see what will happen if lots of us vote for the prophet," says one of the e-mail messages, obtained by the Deseret News. "Each of us knows at least one person with e-mail. Contact them. Pass this on to everyone you know."

      Church spokesman Dale Bills said "there has been absolutely no coordination or encouragement from church headquarters" to catapult President Hinckley onto Time's list.

      Since June, Time.com. has welcomed votes for the man or woman who, for better or worse, most influenced the course of history over the past 100 years.

      Duncan said the submissions will be considered by the magazine's editors, who will make the final choice. The selection is scheduled to be profiled in the first edition of the 21st century.

      The person who receives the most votes, however, will not necessarily be named the most influential, he said.

      "They will undoubtedly look at the results in the (selection) process," he said. "They will take that into consideration."

      Time officials have noted some rancor from LDS faithful who believe President Hinckley was unfairly taken off the list earlier this year.

      Duncan explains that President Hinckley fell off the list — after climbing as high as No. 10 — when Time officials sorted through the votes. Multiple votes from the same person were tossed out.

      "We found that we had thousands and thousands of 'robotic votes,' " he said. Many people, he said, had programmed their computers to vote repeatedly.

      To tally a more sound count, the Web site weeds out repeat votes on a daily basis.

      "There were those who thought there was a conspiracy," Duncan said. "But now he seems to be on the list firmly, with the robotic attacks removed." While the president may not clinch the magazine's cover in 2000, President Hinckley's presence on the list makes for interesting reading, he said.

      Currently, Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein, Adolf Hitler, Mother Teresa, Henry Ford, Pope John Paul II and Madonna are among the top vote recipients. Rabin holds the No. 1 spot with 577,580 votes. Duncan said Time officials saw a sudden surge of votes for Rabin — likely from Jewish readers — after Hitler captured the top spot.

      While Duncan said Time editors "didn't anticipate" President Hinckley logging such a high number, it wasn't surprising, considering the 89-year-old's role in the LDS Church.

      "That's one of the wonderful, wild things that can happen on the Internet," he said. He added that some editors have been equally surprised at Presley's high vote tally.

      "It counts for something in terms of you read it and say, 'Wow!' "