Oscar voting closes after fierce studio campaigns

This year, the accounting firm faced another challenge - the introduction of online voting for the first time, alongside the option of traditional paper ballots mailed out to Academy members around the world.

"It's a very robust system with a number of security features," Rick Rosas, who has worked on the Oscars with PricewaterhouseCoopers since 2001, told Reuters of the electronic method.

He said more than half of the Academy's members voted online.

The online system was hit by glitches and complaints from some of the Academy's members, most of whom are over 50 years old, when the system went live in December for Oscar nomination choices.

Some members reported problems with passwords and user names and voting for Oscar nominations was extended by 24 hours. The Academy later reported a high turnout of voters.

The move to electronic voting is aimed at speeding up the Academy Awards process, especially for members who work or live overseas.

Steven Spielberg's presidential drama "Lincoln" goes into Sunday's Oscar ceremony with a leading 12 nominations, including Best Picture, followed by "Life of Pi" with 11, musical "Les Miserables" and comedy "Silver Linings Playbook" with eight apiece, and Iran hostage thriller "Argo" with seven.