Here's a brief overview of how the voting process works for the 25th Annual Stellar Awards.

Gospel record labels submit their nominations ONLINE, in each of the various categories, at TheStellarAwards.com, beginning May 1, 2009 through to August 31, 2009.

A list of eligible entries is compiled by Central City Productions and is sent to an independent, confidential advisory committee who co-ordinate the preliminary list of nominees. Among other things, the committee ensures that all entries meet the eligibility criteria, all entries are in the appropriate categories, and that the entries are charting on the Billboard or Nielsen Sound Scan. Each entry must have been nationally released between July 1, 2008 and August 31, 2009. Entries meeting the criteria are included on the First Round Ballot.

First Round Ballot (September 21, 2009 to October 3, 2009) includes entries as determined by the Nominating Committee. The Public will be allowed to vote on the first round ballot only. To help ensure the quality of the voting, the SAGMA Executive Board and Nominating Committee will weigh in on the results. The fan's favorite winner of the "Artist of the Year" award in conjunction with the final ballot will be determined from the results of the first ballot. Ten entries or less for each category from the first ballot will move forward to the second ballot. However, the Executive Board and Nominating Committee reserves the right to reduce or increase the number of entires based on the voting results (i.e. if there is a tie - both entries may be included).

The Final Voting (October 9, 2009 to October 23, 2009) is performed by The Stellar Awards Gospel Music Academy (SAGMA), which will result in four entries in each category (the Nominees) and will determine the Stellar Award winners. Only SAGMA members can vote, a SAGMA membership number will be required to vote.

The results of the ballot are tallied and verified by the auditors, and the final nomination list announced by Central City Productions in the Fall of 2009 press conference. The announcement consists of the top four vote-getters in each category. The winners in each category are only revealed at the televised awards ceremony, to be held in January, 2010.

What this means, therefore, is that while information on which artists are on the ballot may leak from various sources before the fall press conference, those artists may or may not be present on the official nomination list. Again, that's because this list can include a maximum of four per category, while the First Round Ballot may contain many more.

The Fan Favorite category, new since the 23rd Annual Stellar Awards, can soon be voted on by ALL fans at the Stellar Awards website, up until December 31, 2009.