The winners of the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are decided by the voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The AMPAS is a professional honorary organization made up of over 10,000 members who work in various branches of the film industry. The members of the Academy include actors, directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, and other industry professionals.
The process of selecting the Oscar winners involves several rounds of voting. For most categories, members of the related branch nominate candidates for the award. For example, actors nominate actors, writers nominate writers, and so on. All members are eligible to nominate candidates for Best Picture.
Once the nominations are announced, all members are eligible to vote in most categories. The exception is for some technical categories, where only members who work in that specific area of the industry are eligible to vote.
The voting process is conducted using a preferential system, where voters rank the nominees in order of preference. The nominee with the most first-place votes is declared the winner.
The entire process is overseen by an accounting firm, which arrange the votes and keeps the results confidential until the winners are announced during the Oscar ceremony.