Culture

Will the New Oscars E-Voting Deadline Tip the Nominations?

After complaints about the Oscar's new online voting process reached fever pitch, the Academy has decided to give its members one more day to vote — not that the digital extension will help anyone or any particular film, really.

By Esther Zuckerman
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After complaints about the Oscar's new online voting process reached fever pitch, the Academy has decided to give its members one more day to vote — not that the digital extension will help anyone or any particular film, really. Members will now have until this Friday at 5 p.m. Pacific to decide the Oscar nominations, which will be announced January 10. The Academy's COO Ric Robertson said in a statement: "By extending the voting deadline we are providing every opportunity available to make the transition to online balloting as smooth as possible."

The new e-voting was supposed to make the Academy's process easier, but in an attempts to make the system secure, picking the Oscars has become increasingly complicated, for everyone involved. Academy voters are typically older, so many said the demographics could skew younger with the new system, leaving room for quirkier films — like, say, The Master — to sneak through to glory. But a high-profile, under-60 voter has now voiced his frustration: Documentarian Morgan Spurlock, of Super Size Me fame, told Scott Feinberg at the Hollywood Reporter that his password had been rejected. "It's not like it's the first time I've ever logged on to a computer," Spurlock said, later tweeting in detail:

That would mean that even if there are fewer voters this year, filmmakers behind the year's trendy, divisive movies shouldn't get too excited. David Poland of Movie City News tweeted that "Fewer votes for Oscar nominations could lead to… any result. No way of knowing. The assumption that only older voters will miss out is BS." Meanwhile, Robertson told Feinberg: "The idea that electronic voting will depress participation is without basis. Nominations voting patterns remain consistent with those of previous years, and we have every reason to expect that this will be a great Oscar season." And even if he's wrong and the number of voters does get minimized, it's unclear how that will change demographics or the end result.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.