The Academy Awards use preferential ballots to determine what wins best picture. Here’s what that means.
For the Oscars, if, say, an academy member puts “The Post” first and it’s knocked out early — as awards season pundits predict — then there’s a measure of satisfaction in seeing that same ballot continue to have an effect on the outcome. For example, if the “Post” ballot has “Get Out” ranked second, then it goes to Jordan Peele’s social satire and stays there until one of three things happens: “Get Out” accumulates 50% of the vote and wins, another movie crosses the 50% threshold and wins, or “Get Out” is also eliminated. Depending on how long it takes to determine a winner, that “Post” ballot could transfer to a handful of nominated movies.
