Understand the system for choosing winners, the official schedule and the Academy’s new rules for the 98th ceremony
Oscar voting is one of the most complex and fascinating processes in the entertainment industry. Unlike awards decided by small juries, the Oscars involve the massive participation of thousands of film professionals. With the 2026 ceremony scheduled for the day March 15understanding the math behind the statuettes is essential to understanding why certain films win and others are forgotten.
For the 2026 edition, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) implemented new eligibility guidelines and reinforced rules on the consumption of nominated films. Below, we detail the entire operation, from the selection of nominees to the complex preferential voting system that defines the Best Film.
Who are the voters
Contrary to what many people think, there is no small “jury” gathered in a room. The Academy’s voting body is made up of more than 10,000 members active (the exact number varies annually, ranging from 9,900 to 10,500 eligible to vote in 2026).
These members are film industry professionals divided into 17 ramos main branches, which include:
- Actors (largest numerical group).
- Directors.
- Producers.
- Screenwriters.
- Editors, Costume Designers, Sound Technicians, among others.
To become a member, the professional must have previously been nominated for an Oscar or be sponsored by two current members, proving a significant contribution to cinema.
The nomination process (first phase)
Voting takes place in two distinct stages. The first, which defines the nominees (announced in January), follows the rule of specialty.
- Pairs vote in pairs: Actors vote to define the nominees in the acting categories (Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Roles). Directors vote for Best Director, and so on.
- Best Film Exception: This is the only category in which all Academy members, regardless of their branch, can vote to choose the nominees.
To be nominated, a film or professional must reach a “magic number” of votes, calculated by dividing the total votes received by the number of vacancies plus one.
The final vote and the preferential system
After the announcement of the nominees (which took place on January 22, 2026), the second phase begins. Here, all active members can vote in all categories (as long as they have watched the films, according to the new rule from 2026).
The simple majority
In the vast majority of categories (such as Best Actor, Best Direction, Best Sound), whoever has the highest absolute number of votes (simple majority) wins.
The preferential system (Best Film)
The category of Best Film uses a different and exclusive mathematical system called Preferential Vote (Ranked Choice Voting). The objective is to reward the film that has the greatest consensus, and not just the passion of a niche. It works like this:
- Voters don’t just choose one film. They must rank all 10 nominees in order of preference (from 1st to 10th).
- To win in the first round, a film needs 50% + 1 of 1st place votes. This rarely happens.
- If no one reaches 50%, the film with less 1st place votes are eliminated.
- The votes for this eliminated film are not discarded. They are redistributed for the films that were in 2nd place on these ballots.
- The process repeats (eliminating the last one and redistributing the votes) until a film passes the 50% mark.
This explains why “divisive” films (that many love and many hate) have a hard time winning Best Picture, while films that are everyone’s “second choice” tend to go up in the final tally.
2026 Calendar and Important Dates
For the 98th edition, the official schedule established by the Academy is:
- January 22nd: Official announcement of the nominees.
- February 10th: Lunch of the Nominees (traditional class photo).
- February 26th: Start of final voting.
- March 5th: Closing of final voting.
- March 15 (Sunday): Oscars ceremony.
New rules and curiosities for 2026
The 2026 edition brought important updates to the regulations:
- Mandatory viewing: For the final vote, the Academy tightened the rule that requires members to confirm that they have seen all the films nominated in a category before voting on it.
- Artificial intelligence: It was clarified that the use of generative AI does not disqualify a work, as long as creative human authorship is the core of the production.
- Representativeness (RAISE): The inclusion and diversity rules required for eligibility in the Best Film category, implemented gradually since 2024, continue to apply.
Where to watch
The 2026 Oscar ceremony will be broadcast live in Brazil. Traditionally, the exhibition rights belong to TNT (pay TV) and the streaming platform Max. The official broadcast begins with the red carpet in the early evening of March 15th.
The Academy’s voting system, while complex, seeks to ensure that winners reflect technical and artistic excellence recognized by industry peers. Understanding “preferential voting” changes the way we place our bets, showing that the most popular film on social media is not always the one that has the mathematical strength to win the top prize.
