The first annual 'Soap Opera Digest Awards were held in 1984, with the second being screened on NBC and Days of Our Lives winning every award in the daytime categories. For the subsequent six years votes were for awards in either daytime soaps, or primetime (with editor awards being for either). From the 9th event onwards votes were across both types of shows.
References
List of Soap Opera Digest Awards Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA