Oscar online voting system is snag-free, Academy says

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences refuted a published report today indicating there were snafus with the org’s new online voting system that launched this week.

Sources at the Academy said that online voting had been “100%” operational since opening at 8 a.m. Monday, contradicting a report that the Academy’s system ran into trouble logging voters in for hours.

Lost or forgotten passwords, a source said, have been the principal reason voters have called the Academy’s independently contracted 24-hour support center that is available for members, who can also visit kiosks in Beverly Hills, New York or London for hands-on assistance.

According to the Academy, more than half of its 5,000-plus members will vote online, in a multistep registration/log-in process that requires a password, a security question, a voter information number and a security code. The voter must be prepared to vote in every category during a single online session.

AMPAS has retained paper ballots as an option to electronic voting, and in fact said it was mailing physical ballots to any dues-paying member who didn’t register to vote electronically by Dec. 14. All voters still have until Jan. 3 to return their ballots.

Nominations for the Oscars will be revealed Jan. 10. The final vote for the Feb. 24 Oscars will take place from Feb. 8-19.