The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that nomination ballots for the 2010 Academy Awards were mailed today to its 5,777 voting members.
According to the Academy's press release, "completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 23, 2010. Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted.
"Nomination and final Awards ballots are tabulated by PricewaterhouseCoopers to ensure that all aspects of the balloting process are conducted with fairness and accuracy.
"Prior to mailing, the PricewaterhouseCoopers staff administers a thorough verification process to ensure that there are no duplicate ballots and that none are missing. In addition to being counted and sorted, the ballots are numbered to guarantee that each one is addressed to the appropriate Academy voter."
The 2010 Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The 2010 Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. In the US, it'll be televised live by ABC.
Photo: AMPAS