‘The Voice’ Season 10 Live Playoffs: How To Vote For Your Favorite Performer In 2016

Although it might seem too early, “The Voice” Season 10 is already at that stage in the competition where the fate of the artists lies solely in the hands of the American voting public. With the Battle and Knockout rounds over, the NBC competition airs live tonight, giving fans their first opportunity to make a difference for their favorite, and subsequently least favorite, performers of Season 10.

Each year host Cason Daly typically lays out the rules on how to vote during the broadcast, but diehard fans know that wasting even a second of the voting window could spell trouble for both their favorite artist and their “Voice” viewing party. To help make sure you and your friends know exactly what to do when the time comes after Monday’s 8 p.m. EDT broadcast, we provide this rundown of the process for Season 10.

Voting Methods

There are three main ways to vote for “The Voice.” Following each broadcast, typically Monday nights when the artists perform live, fans can go to NBC.com, the official “The Voice” mobile app or iTunes. With the exception of iTunes, which will be discussed later, each method allows the same number of votes. This means the difference between the app and website for voting is really just personal preference.

Restrictions

Sorry, youngsters, but all those who vote in the competition to be at least 13 years or older, according to NBC's rules. Every user will be asked to verify his/her age, regardess of voting method. However, with a parent’s help/permission, it’s possible they can still make their vote count in Season 10.

Those who choose to vote by way of the app or website will need to sign in with either a valid email address of Facebook account. Each of these will be monitored to ensure that no one exceeds the voting limit, which is 10 per email address/Facebook account. But if you’re torn between multiple favorites in Season 10, know that not all 10 have to go to one performer.

iTunes Voting

As for iTunes voters, those with a valid Apple ID can purchase the song that their favorite artist sang during the broadcast, which will count as one vote in his or her favor. And lest you think this is the most inefficient way to send your artist forward, know that any artist who finds him or herself in the iTunes “Top 200 Singles Chart” will have their votes from the Apple service multiplied by 10. Additionally, you’ll have a new song to shuffle on your iPod during your workout or morning commute.

Make note that purchasing any song the artist sang in past episodes will not count toward their votes for that week.

Voting Windows

Every Monday night until the show ends, fans will be able to vote for their favorites as soon as the 8:00 p.m. EDT broadcast begins. After that, the window will stay open until the following day at 12:00 p.m. EDT. It’s worth mentioning that some voting methods ask users to queue up and save their selections, but they won’t be tallied as votes until the end of the voting window -- which happens automatically, so don't freak out. If you’re having trouble remembering the windows, or can’t figure out the time difference in your area, NBC makes a full schedule for the remainder of Season 10 available to you.

Instant Save

While iTunes, NBC.com and “The Voice” App are the best ways to make sure your top artist doesn’t end up in the bottom two, there are still some resources available to active fans if their favorite ends up on the chopping block. Each week, “The Voice” gives the bottom two performers a chance at a live save. Each sings another song of his or her choice and America gets a very small window, about five minutes or one commercial break, to rescue one of the two by way of a live Twitter save. Users with an active Twitter account, with its privacy settings set to “public,” will be able to tweet their choice’s name with the corresponding hashtag. Sadly, only one tweet per voter will be counted.

Are you ready to get started with the live playoffs on “The Voice” Season 10? Comment below or tweet your thoughts on the current crop of artists to @TylerMcCarthy.