The amusingly-named seabird, known for its dark long neck, received hundreds of votes on Wednesday night, just days into the competition.
Organisers Forest and Bird showed just how popular the shag was on Twitter, posting a graph of the striking number of votes made in just 24 hours.
But they discovered that those 300 votes were "dubious", claiming it was "potentially someone's idea of a joke".
Forest and Bird said on Twitter: "Last night we had 310 dubious votes for the shag from an IP address in Australia. Thankfully @dflydsci are on the case as our official scrutineers.
"They picked up the votes and shut them down. #Birdoftheyear."
Forest & Bird New Zealand have ran the popular poll for the last 14 years in a bid to raise awareness of the country's endangered birds.
Celebs and politicians alike are known to join in the fun, with prime minister Jacinda Ardern backing the black petrel.
Stephen Fry was quick to endorse the kakapo.
Forest & Bird New Zealand spokeswoman Caitlin Carew told Sky News: "Honestly, there are better ways to show your love for our native birds.
"And we're pretty confident nothing will get past our experts, so there's not much point trying.
"We've nearly reached half of last year's vote total, 41,000, and there's still 10 days to go."
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