Electronic voting in Oscars
LOS ANGELES - Agence France-Presse
Oscars organizers said Jan. 25 they would introduce electronic voting to select Hollywood’s top films and stars from next year, in the latest reform of the elite awards show system.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has struck a deal on the voting system with a firm whose clients include the US Department of Defense and Britain’s Ministry of Justice, it said.
“This is the first of many steps that we’ll be taking toward developing a secure and convenient electronic voting system, beginning with next year’s ballot,” said Academy Chief Operating Officer Ric Robertson.
The Academy, which unveiled this year’s nominees on Tuesday, has nearly 6,000 voting members who are all respected movie industry figures, in contrast to the Golden Globes, whose winners are picked by about 80 foreign journalists. Accounting firm PwC will retain its traditional role in the Oscars voting process.
“Everyone Counts will work with PwC, the Academy’s accounting firm of record, whose role in tabulating Academy members’ votes will remain unchanged,” said the Academy.
“Over the next year, the Academy will undertake a rigorous security and user-acceptance testing process,” it added, saying the process of choosing which company to use had taken 18 months.
