Mods, I don't understand. Can you please clarify?

I created a power rankings poll that any Ranter could vote in. It was simply them listing their rankings, and I would compile the answers and create a list in the same way the AP Poll works. I was planning to post the result in the Official SECRant Power Rankings poll when it came out, per Chicken's advice.

I saw that three new ballots had been submitted late last night, but I didn't count them because I needed to go to bed. I got up this morning to add them to the tally and discovered that the entire thread had been removed. There was no PM to explain why.

I'm struggling to understand why this is an issue. I'm not taking traffic away from the site or promoting other businesses. Ranters seem to enjoy contributing to and discussing the results, and it serves as a fun and interesting comparison to the Official ranking. I'm also doing all the work and not collecting personal information from any Ranters (all ballots are submitted as replies in the threads themselves, not via an external link or spreadsheet).

Could someone please explain to me why the admins won't allow this? I totally understand the issue with some of my other things (serious discussion board, for example), but after much thought, I still can't figure out what the issue is. I would appreciate any clarification you can provide me on this.