The Hollywood Reporter via The New York Times is reporting that the ballots for the Academy Awards will be done electronically. The Academy’s Director of Membership Kimberly Roush, informed the 6,000 + Academy members that electronic voting will be implemented soon, possibly “as early as this year,and will certainly be in effect by next year.” She also wrote, “[a]t some point, once the system is up and running, mailed ballots will be eliminated.”
According to Times, voting electronically could allow for the Oscars award show to be moved up to an earlier weekend in February. However, some fear that electronic voting could cause disenfranchisement for some of the older, less technically-savvy Academy members, as well as give Academy members less time to fully consider the films.
As far as my opinion as an Oscar viewer goes, I would love for the Oscars to be moved up to an earlier time in February. Well, I wouldn’t mind it, at any rate. It’s not going to change the quality of the show at all, and streamlining the voting should only help the system, I’d think. Yes, some older members may not get used to using a computer, but we’ve all got to get used to doing things we aren’t used to doing. What do you think about this?
