Attendance

Jury members may not vote for productions they have not attended at any stage of voting. This applies to productions that jurors may have seen previously (for instance a show from the Fringe that is remounted), as the remount may not be identical to the original production. Substantiation of attendance must be provided to Jury Chairs for every production. Jury Chairs will track juror attendance for every production.

Jurors must attend at least 85% of the total number of registered productions in their Division. In the event that a juror falls below this threshold, that juror may not be eligible to vote at the end of the season.

Juror attendance records will be provided to the Dora Manager, who will verify that jurors have not voted for productions they have not attended. If a juror votes for a production they have not attended or for which they have not provided substantiation, their ballot in that round of voting will not be counted.

Juror Conflict of Interest

Jurors must state if they have a conflict of interest in any production registered in their Division. For the purposes of the DMMA, a conflict of interest is defined as (but not limited to) the following:

(a) when a juror participates (paid or unpaid) as part of a registered production’s administrative, creative, and/or technical team;

(b) when a juror is employed by the production company/companies that registered the production or is a member of its governing body; or

(C) when a juror is related by birth or marriage, including Common Law status, to any individual who meets criteria (a) and (b).

The Jury Chair for the Division will record any conflict of interest. Jurors who have a conflict of interest with a registered production may not vote for that production in the first round of voting, which creates the short-list. Should the production appear on the short-list after the first round of voting, the juror with the conflict may vote for the production in the second and third ballots.

Juror conflict of interest records will be provided to the Dora Manager, who will verify that jurors have not voted for productions with which they have a conflict. If a juror votes for a production with which they have a conflict on the first ballot, their ballot in that round of voting will not be counted.

Ballot Procedures

The number and nature of votes received shall not be disclosed by the Dora Manager to anyone, including TAPA and Dora staff and Boards, the juries or to any other person or entity at any time, excepting the Boards’ Presidents for scrutineering control. The names of the nominees shall not be made public until the Dora Nominee Press Conference, and the names of the recipients shall not be made public until the presentation of the Dora Mavor Moore Awards Ceremony.

No member of the jury may abstain from voting in any category, excepting the first round, nor may they vote for fewer than the prescribed number of candidates in any one category. Jury members may not vote for productions they have not attended. Should a jury member fail to submit a ballot during any round of voting, they will not be permitted from voting in any remaining rounds, including tie-breakers.

There must be a minimum of two (2) eligible candidates in a category in order to proceed with voting (three [3] in the categories of New Musical and New Opera). Voting must proceed in all three rounds as long as the minimum of two (2) eligible candidates is met. In the event insufficient eligible candidates in a category, no award will be given in that category for that season. In such a situation, the producer may register the same production, should it be remounted (even within the 5 year minimum) in any subsequent seasons, in any/all categories in which no award was given. They will retain their original eligibility status.

Once voting has begun, in the event that a registered candidate in any award category in any Division at any stage of the voting process chooses to withdraw their candidacy from consideration, the candidate in question shall be removed from the ballot without substitution. Withdrawn short-listed and nominated candidates shall NOT be replaced by the next runner-up. In the event of only one (1) eligible candidate remaining in a category due to withdrawals, no award will be given in that category for that season. In such a situation, the producer may register the same production, should it be remounted (even within the 5 year minimum) in any subsequent seasons, in any/all categories in which no award was given. They will retain their original eligibility status.

First Round (short list)

The Dora Awards Manager shall create and distribute to each juror a web-based electronic ballot with the full list of eligible candidates in every category.

Each juror shall short list a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of five (5) candidates in each category, with eight (8) in all Performance categories except Performance by an Ensemble.

Jurors may choose to abstain in a category during this round.

Jurors with a conflict of interest with an eligible production may not vote for that production in any category in this round of voting.

The Dora Manager shall tabulate the votes of each jury in every category. Every candidate named by any juror shall be included on the short list.

Second Round (nominees)

The Dora Awards Manager shall create and distribute to each juror a web-based electronic ballot with the short-listed candidates for each category.

Each juror shall rank the nominees in the following order: first (1st) place to their first choice receives 5 points, second (2nd) place to their second choice receives 4 points, third (3rd) place to their third choice receives 3 points, fourth (4th) place to their fourth choice receives 2 points, and fifth (5th) place to their fifth choice receives 1 point [up to eighth (8th) place receiving 8 points for Performance categories, excepting Performance by and Ensemble].

Jurors must assign all five (5) levels of places [up to eighth (8th) place for Performance categories, excepting Performance by and Ensemble], and may not enter the same placing twice.

Jurors with a conflict of interest with an eligible production may vote for that production in any category in this round of voting.

The Dora Manager shall tabulate the votes of each jury in every category. The nominees shall be the first five (5) eligible candidates (eight (8) in all performance categories, excepting Performance by an Ensemble) to receive the highest associated point tallies.

In the event of a (or several) tie(s), nominees in excess of the allotted spots will be dropped. The minimum number of nominees shall be two (2), and maximum number of nominees shall not exceed five (5) and eight (8) for all performance categories, excepting Ensemble. In the case of a five-way tie (or more) for second place or a four-way tie for third place, the tie shall be broken by first tabulating the number of jurors who voted for each candidate. If this does not break the tie, then the points attributed to each remaining tied candidate shall be switched to ordinals and re-tabulated.

Third Round (recipients)

The Dora Awards Manager shall create and distribute to each juror a web-based electronic ballot containing a list of nominees in each category.

Each juror shall rank the nominees in the following order: first (1st) place to their first choice receives 4 points, second (2nd) place to their second choice receives 2 points, third (3rd) place to their third choice receives 1 point.

Jurors must assign all three (3) levels of places, and may not enter the same placing twice.

Jurors with a conflict of interest with an eligible production may vote for that production in any category in this round of voting.

The Dora Manager shall tabulate the votes of each jury in each category. The recipients in each category of each Division shall be the nominee receiving the highest number of associated point tallies.

Tie-Breakers

In the event of a tie, each juror will be sent a tie-breaking ballot where they are asked to select one (1) of two (2) or more candidates. If this measure does not break the tie, the Jury Captain’s vote will be used to break the tie in confidence. The Jury Captain will be selected by the respective juries.