[Rocko]

"A total of 626 people cast Hugo Nominating ballots this year," according to the Con site. It's sad so few people are involved in an award that gains so much publicity. I think the Nebulas get more votes.

[Sam Cree]

Who are the 626, actually?

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

WorldCon members are the people eligible to vote for the Hugo Awards. Members are people who pay their membership dues in a given year; basically, it's people who pay in advance to attend that year's WorldCon. There are also what are called "supporting memberships", which are for people who want to continue their membership but don't plan to attend that year.

I haven't really researched how many people attended the WorldCon this year, but it strikes me that 626 votes is probably average, maybe above average. Rose & I attended the 1997 WorldCon in San Antonio; we just paid at the door for one day, so we weren't eligible to vote in the Hugos. I recall that daily attendance that year averaged about 2000 people, which was a little low. The 2000 count would have included people who paid in advance for the full weekend (and thus been eligible to vote in the Hugos) and people like us who just attended one day.

And of course, not everyone eligible to vote actually does vote in a given year.