Tony,
Edo can correct me if I am wrong, but given that judging is now done by three judges, and not by forum members voting, those criteria are now implicit, and need not be mentioned.
I'd like to elaborate on the above, specifically how it relates to what you wrote:
Do these Criteria still stand? I think they should.
Criteria for your vote should be:
1. Photo content and uniqueness of the presentation of the knife. 50% (How rare the knife is does not count anything here or anywhere in this contest.)
If you read Rule #1, this directly corresponds to
creative merit.
Likewise, this directly corresponds to
technical merit.
3. Popularity of the person posting or knife in the photo (otherwise this should not be a vote for your favorite participant or Randall knife). 0% (zero percent)
The new rules much better guarantee that the spirit and intent of this former criteria will apply.