Oscar ballots mailed to Academy members

Los Angeles, January 29: The 81st Academy Awards is getting near and to come up with the list of winners, the final ballots which hold the fate of the Oscar nominees were mailed to the members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.

The task of deciding who will take home this year’s Oscar awards was given to 5,810 men and women from the film industry. They will be casting their votes on who among the nominees deserved to take home the much coveted Oscar trophy by filling out the ballots, which are still on paper.

The ballots hold the names of nominees for 19 categories, such as the best picture, director, actor and actress.

The other five categories, which are feature-length documentaries, short documentaries, foreign-language film, animated shorts and live-action shorts, have not been included in the sent ballots. Separate ballots holding these categories will only be seen upon confirmation that the Academy members were able to attend the screenings of the nominees.

To ensure the security of the ballots, staff from PricewaterhouseCoopers checked each ballot, ensuring that there are no duplicate or missing ballots. A number is also placed in each ballot to ensure that they are sent to the correct Academy voter.

After filling out the ballots, voters must then send them back to PricewaterhouseCoopers on Feb. 17, on or before 5 p.m. The accounting firm will be responsible for tabulating the results which will be placed inside a sealed envelope and opened only on the award’s nights.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been overseeing the process of picking out the Oscar winners for 75 years and is proud to say that there has never been a security breach during all those years.

Sid Ganis, the Academy president, said, "The Academy is proud to recognize that for the past 75 years, PricewaterhouseCoopers has upheld the trust, integrity and tradition required in handling the Oscar ballots."

Meanwhile, Rick Rosas from PricewaterhouseCoopers explained why they prefer to continue using the pen and paper method of voting and tabulation despite the technological advancements over the past decades. He said that this is "to ensure the highest level of precision, discretion and secrecy."

The 81st Academy Awards will be held on Feb. 22 at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.