What is the voting process of Grammy Awards? Details explored as ballot to list entries in new randomized order

This year's Grammy Awards will reportedly list its ballot entries in a randomized order, as opposed to the usual alphabetical order.

Billboard has reported that when the digital ballots open this Friday, October 3, voters will be greeted with the randomized order of names. According to the outlet, while it won't impact categories with limited entries, it will make it difficult for categories that boast several entries.

Per the outlet, the move is the academy's attempt at nudging its voters to peruse through the entire list of entries as opposed to reverting to their favorites every year.

Here's everything you need to know about the changes to this year's Grammy Awards voting process:

The official Recording Academy website states that the voting process kicks off with all members and record companies submitting entries, which are later screened. This is then narrowed down to five finalists in each category.

The first round ballots are then sent to "voting members in good dues standing," and they are instructed to only vote in the areas of their expertise. This does include up to ten categories across up to three genre fields, in addition to six of the following categories: General Field (Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Best New Artist, Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical and Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical).

The final nominations for the Grammy Awards are then announced, which is when

"Academy voting members vote in up to ten categories across up to three Fields in the genre Fields plus the four categories of the General Field to determine the winners. To ensure the quality of voting, members are directed to vote only in those Fields in which they are peers of the nominees."

The results are then tabulated, and the winners are announced at the Grammy Awards ceremony. Ruby Marchand, chief awards and global industry officer for the Recording Academy, told Billboard in an exclusive statement about the new voting process:

“This ballot update brings our process in line with standard voting best practices … and further ensures the process is fair and equitable for all entries. As with any change, there will be an adjustment period in the first year but, our staff will be on hand to assist voters with any questions.”

The first round of voting for this year's Grammy Awards runs from October 3 to 15.

“The key is to approach the process with preparation and patience,” Marchand said in a Q&A posted on Grammy.com. “Start early, set a reasonable pace, and plan for multiple visits to the ballot. This year, the ballot will appear in randomized order (not alphabetical), so giving yourself time to navigate and review thoroughly is especially important. Don’t wait until the last day – or worse, the last hour – to submit, as technical issues can derail your vote. Use Academy resources ahead of time, and once the ballot opens, take time to explore the diversity of entries along with tools within the ballot to assist in your voting.”

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