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EUROVISION ORGANISERS ARE working on a change to the audience voting system that could help to limit the influence of campaigns that interfere with the results.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has been considering a switch to online voting instead of the traditional telephone and text message options.
The move, which was first reported by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, comes after a report last year found that an Israeli government agency paid for adverts targeting the Eurovision public vote.
In the wake of the 2025 contest, the director of the Eurovision said it would “look at the promotion of acts by their delegations” to ensure “such promotion is not disproportionately affecting” the audience voting.
Organisers said at the time that voting rules for the song contest would be “majorly overhauled”.
In a statement today to The Journal, the EBU said: “We can confirm that we have begun investigating a move to wholly online audience voting for the Eurovision Song Contest and more details will be announced in the months ahead.”
Aftonbladet reports that an internal letter sent by the EBU to member broadcasters says it hopes the changes will “increase engagement and willingness to vote and help dilute the effect of mobilised bloc voting, without compromising fairness or trust”.
The change could also require voters to cast a vote for more than just one entry, which could mean voting for their top three favourite acts.
Earlier this week, the EBU announced that a winning Eurovision country will no longer be allowed to host the contest the following year if an armed conflict or a “sensitive” geopolitical situation is affecting their state or neighbouring countries.
The host country rule change followed years of mounting criticism over Israel’s participation in the contest, which prompted several countries, including Ireland, to choose not to participate this year in protest.
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