Alternative Film Guide

In Variety, Timothy M. Gray attempts to explain in a few sentences "Oscar’s enigmatic ballot."

Since 1936, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been using the "preferential voting system," in which voters cast a nomination ballot with their top five choices. PricewaterhouseCoopers representatives then sort out all the ballots to pick the five — in some cases three — eventual nominees per category.

The key to the process is that "the order in which you list your preferences is important. In the first round of ballot-counting, the PWC honchos go through all the first choices. If your first choice winds up with a nomination [1/6 of the votes of each Academy branch], your ballot is set aside — thus ensuring that your voice was heard; now it’s time to give the other voters a chance."

To say that the order in which voters list their preferences is "important" is quite an understatement. In fact, it’s crucial, for once your top choice is in, the other four movies listed in your ballot will be ignored.

Let’s say that 1,000 people voted for this year’s best film Oscar. Of those, 300 placed No Country for Old Men as their top choice, 300 chose There Will Be Blood, 200 chose Juno, and 180 chose Michael Clayton. That means there were 20 ballots left — and they all had Into the Wild as their first choice. And let’s say that all those 1,000 Academy-ites picked Alain Resnais‘ Private Fears in Public Places as their second choice for best film. (Hey, this is make believe, ok?)

Now, even if the 980 voting members who did not pick Into the Wild hated the film with a passion, it will be nominated — while the unanimous 1,000 second-choice votes gone to Resnais’ beautiful, haunting dramatic comedy will be ignored.

Sounds fair? Not in my book, but that may explain why some bizarre, unexpected choices creep in among the nominees. A handful of votes in the #1 slot may guarantee a nomination to a director, a screenplay, a song, or — though less likely, considering the numbers of voters — a film or a performer. (Actors form the largest Academy branch; all Academy members can vote for the best film.)

Also, I wonder how many Academy members actually know how the ballot-counting system works. A full understanding of the process would be essential for the vote counting to be a fair representation of the Academy members’ choices. For instance, do voters actually know that there’s a good chance that only their top choice will be tabulated? If they love two or three movies equally, are they aware that a first-choice vote to the one that will most likely be ignored by other Academy members may help it land a nomination?

Gray’s article also tells us that "PWC accountants do not penalize you for spelling mistakes or bad penmanship. But if you offer confusing information — voting for Meryl Streep in The Queen, for example — that vote is thrown out."

I’m willing to bet my collection of used Eurotrash film magazines that those mistakes happen much more often than the Academy would care to admit.

Of course, the PWC people have to keep their mouths shut. After all, much of the Oscar’s luster relies on the fact that (almost) no one knows exactly how Academy members fill out their ballots, or how many votes a nominee or winner got. The Academy has about 6,000 members, but how many actually bother voting in the various categories?

Additionally, an absolute win will look considerably less absolute (think Crash vs. Brokeback Mountain) if it is the result of only a handful of votes — perhaps even a single one.

Remember that next time you blame the 6,000-strong Academy for the rotten choices of perhaps no more than 600 — or 60 or 6 — members.

Gray offers more info on Oscar ballot-counting procedures here.

Photo: © AMPAS

 

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