How the Oscar Voting Process Works: A Complete Guide

The Academy Awards process is more nuanced than most people realize, involving two distinct phases, a complex preferential voting system, and a membership of over 10,000 film industry professionals.

Phase 1: Nominations

In most categories, nominations are determined by Academy branch members voting within their area of expertise (directors nominate directors, actors nominate actors, etc.). Best Picture nominations are open to the entire membership using a preferential ballot system (ranked choice), which explains why ensemble-loved films often make it over critically acclaimed but polarizing ones.

Phase 2: Winners

All eligible Academy members vote in all categories (with some exceptions). Best Picture uses a ranked-choice counting method called the Single Transferable Vote — ballots are redistributed from eliminated films until one reaches a majority. This is why it's possible for the film with the most first-choice votes to lose.

Eligibility Rules

Films must open in Los Angeles County for at least seven consecutive days between January 1 and December 31 of the eligibility year. Streaming films became permanently eligible after COVID-era rule changes, a historic shift that enabled Netflix, Apple TV+, and Amazon to compete seriously.