I want users to be required to enter their name and email, but NOT to have to sign up for an account, or double opt in.

To me, this seems like how many people would want their users to interact with a poll.

#1. User receives link via text/whatsapp/instagram DM/etc from the poll creator.
#2. User lands on poll page and gets asked in a pop-up, or inline, "Please enter your first name and your email address (both are required)".
#3. User enters those, and as long as there is an @ symbol and a TLD, we assume an email is in there. User does NOT have to go search through their spam to opt in and click any link. Nor do they need to create a Pollunit account. Either of those would lead to a tremendous drop-off in participants.
#4. User takes the poll, and their votes are attached to that name and email.

To me, that is the least friction but still gives the poll creator insights as to who did what in the voting (for times when the creator wants to know that, which I would imagine is VERY often).

The email system currently is suboptimal, as I can't modify the message, so the email will LIKELY go into spam, and even IF it reaches the intended recipient's email inbox, they will not open it because my name is not in the email subject, it doesn't even mention that it is a poll, and they are not expecting the poll.

Maybe this already exists and I am just not seeing it. But can you guys PLEASE add this method of light verification that leads to maximum vote completion (but still with some intel on the voter)

You can already achieve almost exactly this with most of our products.

In the »Advanced« step, enable »Request additional information from voters«. There you can add any fields you like, including an email field. If you set the field type to »Email«, PollUnit performs basic email format validation.

The important difference is that this custom email field is not verified via a confirmation email. Only the separate »Request confirmation email (double opt-in)« option sends a verification email and requires the participant to confirm it.

So if your goal is to collect a participant's name and email with as little friction as possible, the additional information fields are exactly the feature you're looking for.

I am on the advanced page, of my survey (only place i can let users rank their favorites). and i don't see "request additional info from voters" where is it on this page. maybe i am blind

Surveys don't include »Request additional information from voters«. Instead, you can add a separate step and choose »Query information«. There, you can create the same kind of custom fields, such as first name, last name, email address, or any other information you'd like to collect.