We find that their numbers roughly doubled each year, starting from about 100 in 2014 and climbing to about 400 in 2016.
We also find that their discipline across categories improved considerably.
Based on the drop in their voting rate on the final ballot, we cautiously estimate their numbers may fall back to 200 during the 2017 Hugo nominations.
We find that the impact of slates has been almost entirely limited to keeping worthy works off the final ballot.
- Only one Hugo winner (Best Professional Artist, 2016) owed its place on the ballot to slate nominations. No other candidate who chose to remain on the ballot despite an unwanted slate nomination actually needed the slate nominations to get there.
- Only two candidates (Black Gate in 2016 and "Goodnight Stars" in 2015) who declined the nomination in response to being slated would have made it to the final ballot without the slates.
