How Emmy Voting Works: A Complete Guide to the 2025 Emmy Awards Process

Leo Stageborn3 weeks agoLast Updated: July 19, 2025

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Emmys: What to know about the Emmy Awards voting rules

What Are the Emmy Awards?

The Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, celebrate outstanding achievements in television. While there are several Emmy categories — including Daytime, Sports, and News — the most prominent is the Primetime Emmy Awards, which spotlight excellence in prime-time programming. The inaugural ceremony took place in 1949 and has since become one of the most prestigious honors in television.

When Are the 2025 Emmy Awards?

The 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards will be held on Sunday, September 14, 2025. Leading up to the main event, two Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies will recognize technical and behind-the-scenes contributions on Saturday, September 6 and Sunday, September 7. Nominees will be officially announced on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.

Who Votes for the Emmys?

Voting is conducted by more than 26,000 active members of the Television Academy. These members are divided into 31 peer groups, each representing specific professional disciplines such as acting, directing, and writing. Only active members are permitted to vote in relevant categories.

How Does Emmy Voting Work?

Before voting begins, all contenders must be properly submitted to appear on the official ballot. Entries must be submitted in the appropriate category — for example, a performer submitted as a lead cannot be voted on as supporting or guest.

Nomination Voting Process:

All members can vote for general program categories, excluding animation and nonfiction.
Peer group members vote only in their respective fields.
Specific episode submissions are required for writing, directing, and guest categories.

Nomination Slot Rules (Proportional System):

20–80 submissions: 5 nominees
81–160 submissions: 6 nominees
161–240 submissions: 7 nominees
241+ submissions: 8 nominees

Categories with fewer than 20 entries are subject to additional screening and approval thresholds by the peer groups.

How Are Nominees Selected?

Until 2022, the Emmy Awards used an unlimited ballot system, allowing voters to choose as many candidates as they wished. Since 2023, voters are limited to selecting only as many entries as the final number of nominations per category. The highest vote-getters make the final nominee list.

What Happens After Nominees Are Announced?

Once nominations are revealed, programs and performers must submit specific episodes representing their best work:

Actors: Submit one episode.
Comedies/Dramas: Submit six episodes.
Documentary, Animated, Variety, Reality: One episode.
Children’s programming: Two episodes.
Limited series and leads: Full season allowed.

Voters are encouraged to watch these submissions via the Academy’s official streaming platform before casting their votes.

How Are Emmy Winners Selected?

During the final voting phase, all active members vote in general program categories. For peer-specific categories (e.g., directing, acting), only members of that peer group may vote. Each voter selects one winner per category.