Oscar voters now will have to have seen every nominee to vote

One change to the process is small, but could make a difference. Unless you are in the Oscars weeds, you may not know that the final ballot sent to voters only includes the films being nominated, not the people being nominated. Actors are listed by name, but if you were the person up for, say, Best Cinematography or Best Original Song, your name was not included. That has changed, and that kind of makes sense.

Another change, and a bigger one, is the end of the honor system. Previously, voters were asked not to vote in categories wherein they hadn't seen every nominee. As the number of voters has expanded, though, the Academy has grown increasingly skeptical of the voter base. So now, the honor system is out. Voters will have to actively demonstrate they have seen every nominee in a category in order to vote for it.

That will be done either the Academy's proprietary Screening Room app, or by filling out a form about when and where they saw a movie. That's accounting for in-person screenings, film festivals, and the like. One could potentially work around that through subterfuge, but at that point voters would literally have to commit Oscars voter fraud.

There's some other minutiae in the mix, but for your run-of-the-mill movie fan and Oscar enthusiast, those are the two that stand out. So, when you watch the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026, know that everybody who voted for Best Animated Short saw every nominee. Or lied.

(h/t The Hollywood Reporter)