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Arts & Entertainment

Academy Voters Get Extra Day to Cast Oscar Ballots

The additional time is meant to ease the transition to online voting.

Members of the Beverly Hills-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will have one extra day to cast their Oscar nomination ballots, the Academy announced Monday, giving them a little more time to adjust to online voting.

The deadline was originally this Thursday, but now members have until 5 p.m. Friday to cast their ballots.

"By extending the voting deadline we are providing every opportunity available to make the transition to online balloting as smooth as possible," according to Ric Robertson, the Academy's chief operating officer. "We're grateful to our global membership for joining us in this process."

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Academy members can still cast paper ballots, but this is the first year they have been given the option of voting for nominees online. The Academy has set up a 24-hour call center for members who need help with the system, and assisted-voting locations are in place in Los Angeles, New York and London.

Academy officials noted that the online voting system will be down from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, but it will then reopen and remain available until 5 p.m. Friday. Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 10. The Oscars will be handed out Feb. 24.

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