MidAmeriCon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention, announced on April 14 that over 4,000 nominating ballots were cast for the 2016 Hugo Awards, almost double the previous record of 2,122 ballots set last year by Sasquan, the 73rd Worldcon, in Spokane, Washington. They also confirmed that the finalists for the 2016 Hugo Awards, 2016 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and the 1941 Retro Hugo Awards will be announced on Tuesday, April 26.

The announcement of the Hugo Award finalists will be carried live via MidAmeriCon II’s social media. The finalists will be released category by category, starting April 26, 2016 at Noon CDT (10 AM PDT, 1 PM EDT, 6 PM BST, 7 PM Western European Summer Time), through the convention’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MidAmeriCon2/) and Twitter feed. The announcement will begin with the 1941 Retro Hugo Awards then continue with the 2016 Hugo Awards and Campbell Award. The full list of finalists will be made available on the MidAmeriCon II website directly after the completion of the live announcement, and will also be distributed as a press release to all MidAmeriCon II press contacts.

Voting on the final award ballot to select this year’s winners will open in mid-May 2016, and will be open to all Attending, Young Adult, and Supporting members of MidAmeriCon II. The winners will be announced on Saturday, August 20, at the MidAmeriCon II Hugo Awards Ceremony in Kansas City.