Bayonetta was added as the ballot winner, but there is suspicion that she didn't actually win the ballot.
I have my suspicions there as well. I mean she's a cool character, I think she'll be fun to play (though I haven't watched her in action yet), and she could potentially be a great addition. But as far as I know, the Bayonetta games were fairly niche, even if they did have a supportive fanbase. I could maybe see her being more popular in the UK and Japan maybe since I don't know their climates, but being so high up in the ballots in that it'd justify her being added to the game? It just doesn't feel very likely. Not over everything else that could have won.
And I agree, Cloud and the new Fire Emblem (Seriously? MORE Fire Emblem??) person feel like marketing ploys then working to please fans of Smash and Nintendo.
Also, they're seriously only adding ONE new character from the ballot, after all this time? I mean, they could potentially really rack up some awesomeness... I suspect the NX is ruining the chances of good support for more DLC for Mario Kart 8 and Smash, as well as all the other Wii U games.
In any case, we'll never know for sure if Bayonetta truly won or not. Nintendo will never release the scores, especially not if she
didn't win, and even if they did, we would have no way of verifying that the released scores were accurate. It's really a 'damned if they do, damned if they don't' situation. :/