Considering how many years he waited for the fulfillment of his desire, I do not think that this idea will be relevant. On the other hand, I know another user who managed to change his nickname twice, to whom the admin was favorable. What dances with a tambourine other users should take to convince the admin to change their nickname can only be guessed at. Therefore, changing nicknames to numbers, I think, would be just extra work for the one who will calculate the results.
I am not saying for the change to take place now.
It would be next year, when voting, it would include the two elements: username and ID.
But, of course, it all depends on how the OP counts.