Voting Procedures

  1. Throughout the viewing year, the Nominations Committee Chair collects nominations at discussion meetings and enters nomination information in a spreadsheet. The Nominations Committee Chair shares with the entire Committee one printed copy of the spreadsheet at discussion meetings. Nomination information is held in strict confidence. At no time shall nomination information be electronically distributed or physically duplicated beyond the single copy shown for review at appointed meetings.
  2. The Annual Voting meeting of the Isadora Duncan Awards Committee is a two-day process that generally takes place over a weekend in September.
  3. The first day of the Annual Voting meeting is normally reserved for viewing videos and DVDs of nominated performances and for reviewing other pertinent nomination materials. At the close of the first day of the Annual Voting meeting, all nominations shall be tendered to the Chair of the Nominations Committee.
  4. The Nominations Chair composes ballot sheets for each awards category in preparation for the second day of the Annual Voting meeting.
  5. The second day of the Annual Voting meeting is normally reserved for two rounds of voting: a first round of voting to determine the official nominees to be announced publicly for each category, and a second round of voting to determine winners.
  6. At the start of the second day of the Annual Voting meeting, the Nominations Chair distributes copies of the Voting Procedures and By-Laws, the Conflict of Interest Policy, the definitions of the Awards Categories, and the ballots for the first round of voting.
  7. A first round of discussion is held for each category. Committee members with a conflict of interest as defined by the Isadora Duncan Awards Conflict of Interest Policy do not discuss or vote in categories in which they have a conflict.
  8. A first ballot is taken. The number of points possible in a category is equal to the number of nominations in that category. Members award weighted votes to their choices in order of preference. In other words, if the Company Performance category includes six nominees, a voting member might vote as follows:
    • First Choice Nominee: 6 points
    • Second Choice Nominee: 5 points
    • Third Choice Nominee: 4 points
    • Fourth Choice Nominee: 3 points
    • Fifth Choice Nominee: 2 points
    • Sixth Choice Nominee: 1 point

    A voting member votes for all nominees in a given category by awarding points in consecutive descending order according to his or her preference. In the example above, for instance, a member could not vote by giving his or her First Choice Nominee 6 points and then his or her Second Choice Nominee 3 points.

    Members must begin their weighted voting with the highest possible number of points available in a category. In the example above, for instance, a member could not vote by giving his or her First Choice Nominee 2 points.

  9. Votes for the first round of voting are tallied and the results are announced. The top five point-getters in each category automatically move to the second ballot.
  10. A second round of discussion is then held before the final ballot is taken. Ten minutes are devoted to this open discussion, at the end of which a simple majority may vote to extend discussion by another ten minutes. Any voting member, excluding those with conflicts of interest in a particular category, may ask that a first-round ballot nominee be reinstated. At this point, however, a three quarters majority (3/4) is required to reinstate a nominee from the first-round ballot.
  11. Any additions to the second and final ballot are noted and the final ballot is taken. Voting procedures are the same as in #8 above. NB: There may be fewer than five nominations in some final-ballot categories, but the number of points possible in a category nevertheless remains equal to the number of nominations in that category.
  12. The top recipient in each category is automatically a winner. The voting members then discuss, category by category, whether multiple awards should be given. Members may consider, among other things, the point spread within a category, the list of winners as a whole, and the awards’ reflection of the quality and diversity of the dance season as a whole. Ten minutes per category are devoted to this discussion, at the end of which a simple majority may vote to extend discussion by another ten minutes. Voting members with conflicts of interest may not participate in the discussion of the category in which they have a conflict. A simple majority vote is required to add a second winner in a category; similarly, a simple majority is required to add a third. No more than three winners may be named in a category.
  13. Committee members must be present at the final voting meeting in order to vote on the awards.
  14. All awards decisions made by the Committee are final.