FANFAQ: How Does Oscars Voting Actually Work?
Nominations for the Academy Awards are officially out, and this year’s list is already sparking lots of conversation. Here's what to know.
Nominations for the 98th annual Academy Awards have been revealed, and this year is shaping up to be an interesting ceremony. Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller Sinners set a new record, receiving 16 nominations — the most ever received by a single film. Timothée Chalamet is generating continued buzz for his performance in Marty Supreme, while Wicked: For Good was completely shut out just one year after the first film earned 10 nominations.
But beyond the headlines, milestones, and snubs, fans may be wondering…how did these movies, creatives, and actors actually get selected? Here’s what to know about the nomination process ahead of Hollywood’s biggest night.
How does Oscars voting work?
Before a film can even enter the Oscar conversation, it has to meet a baseline set of eligibility rules. According to the Academy’s official rulebook, films must run for at least seven consecutive days in a qualifying U.S. city between January 1 and December 31 of the eligibility year, and be longer than 40 minutes unless otherwise specified. Movies that debut exclusively on television or streaming platforms are not eligible.
Once the submission window closes, the nomination process unfolds in stages. In December, the Academy holds a preliminary voting round for select categories, resulting in shortlists that are announced publicly. Weeks later, nomination voting opens — typically in mid-January — and Academy members vote via secret online ballot. Nominees are announced shortly after that voting window closes.
At every stage, votes are tabulated by an independent accounting firm, keeping the process completely confidential, though every year leading up to the ceremony voters anonymously share their truths in various publications.
Who actually votes for the Oscars? What can they vote on?
Only members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences can vote for Oscar nominations. The Academy is made up of more than 10,000 professionals across 20 branches, each representing a different filmmaking discipline.
During nominations voting, members usually vote only within their own branch — actors nominate actors, editors nominate editors, and so on. Best Picture is the major exception, with eligible members across branches participating.
Once nominations are set, the rules change. In the final round, all voting members may vote in all categories, including Best Picture.
When it comes to choosing winners, most Oscar categories are decided by a simple majority, where the nominee with the most votes wins.
But Best Picture works differently. Instead of selecting just one film, Academy members rank the nominees from their favorite to least favorite using a preferential ballot system.
If no movie receives more than 50 percent of first-place votes, the film with the fewest top rankings is eliminated, and those ballots are redistributed to voters’ next choices. That process continues until one film reaches a majority. The goal is to reward the movie with the broadest overall support — not just the most passionate fans — which helps explain why Best Picture winners sometimes aren’t the “obvious” frontrunners.
Do Oscar voters actually have to watch all the movies?
This is one of the biggest points of confusion, and the rules have recently changed.
For years, only certain categories required voters to watch all shortlisted films. But starting with the 98th Academy Awards, members must now confirm they’ve watched every nominated film in a category in order to vote in the final round.
That makes this the first Oscars ceremony where the “you must watch everything” rule applies across the board when choosing winners.
Why do Oscar races feel decided before movies are widely released?
One reason Oscar races can feel “decided early” is because Academy members often see films months before the general public. Through screeners and festival premieres, voters may already be familiar with certain movies by the time nominations voting begins, while others are just entering the conversation. That early access can shape momentum and perception, even though no official votes are cast until much later.
For example, throughout awards season, I’ve seen some fans discuss how Marty Supreme seemed to come out of nowhere and immediately be an awards darling. For the general public, the movie is only a month old, but voters have been discussing it for months.
By the time nominations arrive, many films or performers already carry narratives — frontrunner, comeback, overdue recognition, breakout star — even though the actual voting happens later.
At the same time, studios actively campaign their films to stay visible in a crowded field of hundreds of films, hosting screenings and Q&As, running “For Your Consideration” ads in industry trades, and securing press coverage to keep certain performances top of mind. Campaigning is what studios do to make sure a film isn’t overlooked, especially if it is released earlier in the eligibility window.
Awards season often feels like a referendum on taste, but the Oscars are ultimately a structured industry process shaped by a variety of external factors, like timing and access, just as much as artistry. Knowing how all these pieces fit together can change how fans read the nominations each year.
The 98th annual Academy Awards air Sunday March 15, 2026 at 7PM EST live on ABC and Hulu. The ceremony will be hosted by Conan O’Brien. Check out the full list of nominations here.
FANFAQ is a recurring column from Fangirl Forward that demystifies the entertainment industry for fans. Got something you’ve always wondered about? Send us your question here.