No need for polls or popularity pi, it's just an option.
Posts:
open in wp admin
→ design → theme editor → home php template
find this line:
php query_posts('cat=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11&showposts=1
replace it with this one:
php query_posts('showposts=1
save it
open next middle php template
find this line:
php query_posts('cat=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8&showposts=1&offset=1
replace it with this one:
php query_posts('showposts=1&offset=1
save it
open next r_sidebar php template
find this line:
php query_posts('cat=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8&showposts=1&offset=2
replace it with this one:
php query_posts('showposts=1&offset=2
save it
open next s_footer php template
find this line:
php query_posts('cat=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11&showposts=3&offset=2
replace it with this one:
php query_posts('showposts=3&offset=2
find this line:
php query_posts('cat=5&showposts=3&offset=
replace cat 5 with your desired category ID:
save the file
that should do the fix.