people's choice awards rigged
Find out who picks the People’s Choice Award winners. Pictured: One of last year’s winners, actress Priyanka Chopra, backstage at the show on Jan. 6, 2016 in Los Angeles. Getty Images

The People’s Choice Awards puts the general public in charge of voting for their favorite movies, TV shows, actors, music and internet stars and more, but the winners may not actually be hand-picked by fans. Ahead of the award show on Wednesday, find out what the official 2017 voting rules are and who really picks the winners.

The controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the PCAs started in 2014 when then-famous Viner Cameron Dallas revealed on Twitter that he was told six days prior to the show that he had won in the Choice Viner category. The controversy continued later that night when one viewer screen-grabbed a shot of the show’s disclaimer aired during the credits.

The note revealed winners were determined by an online voting system, the same of which in still in effect today, and electronically tabulated. The interesting part was the closer that read: “Fox representatives, Teenasaurus Rox Inc. had the right to determine the winners from the top four vote getters of the nominees in each of the 88 categories. Ultimate choice was determined solely by the producers.”

Thankfully for fans who spent their free time voting for categories such as favorite movie icon and favorite social media celebrity this year, it appears the award show has since modified its voting rules. The show’s official terms do not state producers have the final say in picking the 2017 winners, only noting that programmed voting is not allowed and “all voting will be subject to verification and certification by an independent third party auditor.”

The way the People’s Choice Awards comes up with their nominees has remained the same. The show compiles data from national ratings, box office numbers, music sales and other market research to create the preliminary nominees. From there, fans are asked to pick their favorites, therefore choosing who becomes the official nominees.

This year’s PCAs will see actor and comedian Joel McHale host. The show airs live on CBS at 9 p.m. EST. Check out the full list of nominees HERE and find out how to watch online HERE.

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