balloters

First-time balloters include Crow, the hitmaker who has moved easily between rock, pop and country; Michael, the superstar singer and queer icon who died in 2016; and Nelson, the American legend who just celebrated his 90th birthday with an all-star, two-night blowout at the Hollywood Bowl.

Whether or not it will be the triumphant production — and that will depend largely on the psychology and mood of the balloters — certainly it seems probable that it will gather honors for a performance or two.

The balloters, a mix of AP member sports editors and AP beat writers, elevated Woods’ rousing victory at Augusta National over the runner-up entry: the U.S. women’s soccer team’s victory at the World Cup.

Television Academy voters, like balloters in other elections, tend to reward incumbents.

Rump efforts to deny Trump the presidency by turning his electors against him appear not to have gained much ground. To date, only one Republican elector, in Texas, has said publicly that he would not vote for Trump. A separate Democratic attempt to turn Clinton balloters away from her so they could join with Republicans to back a new candidate has similarly gotten little traction, not least because no alternative candidate has stepped forward.