Hugo awards organisers reveal thousands spent on fraudulent votes to help one writer winGuardian 23 Jul 2024
“The prestigious Hugo awards for science fiction and fantasy writing has revealed that almost 400 votes – about 10% of all votes cast in this year’s awards – were fraudulently paid for to help one finalist win….[but there is] no evidence that Finalist A was at all aware of the fraudulent votes being cast…Based on the Hugo administration subcommittee’s tally, paying for 377 memberships [in order to vote] would have cost at least £16,965 (A$33,000, US$22,000)….‘at least one person had sponsored the purchase of WSFS memberships by large numbers of individuals, who were refunded the cost of membership after confirming that they had voted as the sponsor wished’….While the finalist has not been disqualified, they have also not won their category without the invalid votes…This year’s Worldcon will be held in Glasgow in August, with the Hugo winners announced at a ceremony on 11 August.”
https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/23/hugo-awards-fraudulent-votes-paid-for-one-author-ntwnfb?CMP=share_btn_url
