The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which produces the Oscars, mailed a letter on Thursday to its members, saying an electronic system for Oscar voting may be instituted as early as this year and certainly will be used in 2013. The roughly 6,000 voting members were asked for a personal email address that is separate from anything that goes to an assistant. After the system is implemented, mailed ballots will no longer be used.
When it comes to an electronic system, the obvious concerns are hacking and frustrating less digitally-familiar members who may not even have or use an email. There might be an advantage as well. By decreasing the lag time that comes with mailing and counting paper ballots, the academy could move the ceremony to an earlier weekend. This year, the Oscars were held on February 27. If the awards show is earlier, then it will not be last televised program to honor the year's movies. Less time devoted to counting may also mean, however, a shorter season, which could lead to less time to view and consider films.
Photo: Anne Hathaway and James Franco (Photo: Getty Images)
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