Nomination and Voting Procedures

The following procedures have been approved by the executive board for the MCMF ballots:

Ballot structure

A three part ballot will be used: Submission Phase, an Open Nomination Ballot, followed by a Final Ballot.

The nomination form will ask each voter to write-in up to two different names for each category.
The same group or individual cannot be nominated in more than one "artist/group" category within a field. Restricted categories will be clearly marked on the ballot with an asterisk.
An artist may vote for his or herself.
A list of recordings released during the eligible time period will be included with the nominating ballot for reference. The list will clearly indicate that it is not exclusive and that any qualified recording may be nominated.
Votes will be tabulated by a pre-determined counting committee following verification procedures. Nomination ballots will be retained for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed two years, and made available for inspection by interested parties.
The full tally count will be presented to the entire nominating committee for verification and final selection.

The top six verified vote-getters that meet qualifying criteria will be on the final ballot in most categories. Outstanding Musician categories will have eight finalists.
The nominating committee will be responsible for verifying that nominated artists meet eligibility criteria, are in appropriate categories and that names are spelled correctly.
In the event of a tie, the committee has discretion to use more or fewer than six nominees, or to move a nominee to another appropriate category. If the tie results in an unwieldy number of verified nominees, the tie will be broken by random drawing.
Names may not be added by the nominating committee.
The committee has discretion to eliminate a category if there is an insufficient return or fewer than three qualified nominees.
The final ballot will be proofread by at least two committee members other than the person who compiled the ballot.

Final ballots will have six verified nominees in each category. (See nomination information above).
Voters from the MCMF database will choose one from each category in which they vote. Voters will be encouraged to vote only in categories they are knowledgeable in and to objectively consider quality of musicianship and artistry.
The winners will be the artists with the most votes.
Tabulation is done on the computer tabulation database and a random sample can be tested to ensure accurate data entry. Results will be retained for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed two years, and will be available for inspection by interested parties.

To be eligible:

Artists must have a tie to southeast Michigan. Such ties include nativity, long term residency, current residency, or having done a body of work within the southeast Michigan area that has resulted in permanent and indelible identification with the area.
To be eligible for recording categories, a recording must be by local artists (defined above) and released to the public between December 1, 2005 and November 30, 2006.
National Recordings are records that have national retail distribution.

The approved procedures will be published on our web site.

Questions regarding these proceedures should be directed to the board via our Contacts Page