Hall of Fame Voting: Dates & Rules | [Year] Guide

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, is where the legends of the sport live forever.

But how do those legends get to Cooperstown in the first place? There are two ways:

Players can be elected to the Hall of Fame through a Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) ballot or through an Era Committee ballot.

With the BBWAA ballot for the upcoming Hall of Fame election set to be unveiled Monday morning, here’s everything you need to know about the process.

Only active and honorary members of the Baseball Writers Association of America who have been active baseball writers for at least 10 years are eligible to vote. They must have been active as baseball writers and members of the BBWAA for at least 10 years prior to the date of the election in which they are voting.

In 2024, 394 BBWAA members cast a ballot for Cooperstown.

The BBWAA, which has been electing players to the Hall of Fame since 1936, has been voting annually for each new group of candidates since 1966.

Any player who has played in at least 10 major league seasons and has ended his MLB playing career at least five calendar years before the next election is eligible to be included on that year’s ballot.

For example, pitcher Cole Hamels made his big league debut in 2006 and participated in 15 seasons, last playing in 2020. Therefore, he is eligible for the 2026 BBWAA ballot for the first time.

The most recent BBWAA ballots have included 25 to 30 players, so not all players who had a career longer than 10 years and have been retired for at least five years are included on the ballot. The final decision rests with an evaluation committee appointed by the BBWAA, made up of journalists in charge of covering baseball. It is a six-member committee, and a first-time eligible candidate enters the ballot if nominated by at least two of the six members.

These new faces are joined by all players who received a vote on at least 5% of the ballots cast in the previous election.

Ballots are mailed to each BBWAA voter during the second half of November. A voter can vote for a minimum of zero and a maximum of 10 players on their ballot. Each voter must then sign their ballot and return it no later than December 31 to be counted. BBWAA voting results for the 2026 group will be announced Wednesday night, January 20 on MLB Network.

Any player who receives a vote on at least 75% of the ballots cast is formally elected to Cooperstown. In 2025, players who received a vote on at least 296 of the 394 ballots cast made it to Cooperstown. That was the case for Ichiro Suzuki (99.7%), CC Sabathia (86.8%) and Billy Wagner (82.5%).

Players who did not receive the necessary number of votes for the election must receive at least 5% of the votes in order to remain among those eligible. Any player who does not receive at least 5% of the votes will no longer be considered by the BBWAA for the HOF.

Players can remain on the ballot for 10 years, assuming they receive at least 5% of the vote each year. If a player is not elected after 10 years on the ballot, his case will no longer be considered by the BBWAA.

Through 2025, the BBWAA has elected 137 players to the Hall.

There has only been one player who received a vote on 100% of the ballots cast: Panamanian Mariano Rivera in 2019.

Formerly known as the Veterans Committee, the Era Committees consider retired players who are no longer eligible for election to the BBWAA Hall of Fame, along with managers, umpires and executives.

There are three Era Committee ballots:

There are 16 members on each committee, consisting of Hall of Famers, current and retired MLB team executives, members of the media and historians. Committee members change every year.

Era Committees rotate on a three-year cycle, with a ballot considered each year.

The Historical Overview Committee, which is appointed by the BBWAA, serves as the evaluation committee, and consists of 10 to 12 representatives. Identifies eight candidates for each year’s Era Committee ballot.

The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee’s player ballot is under consideration this year. The eight candidates for the Hall On the ballot are Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Gary Sheffield and the Mexican Fernando Valenzuela.

For 2025, the Contemporary Era Committee will meet on December 7 at the Winter Meetings in Orlando to consider this year’s eight candidates. Each committee member can vote for a minimum of zero and a maximum of three of the eight candidates on the ballot. Voting results will be announced live that night on MLB Network at 7:30 ET.

Candidates who receive a vote on 12 of the 16 ballots cast (75%) are elected to the Hall of Fame and are inducted into the following year’s induction ceremony in Cooperstown. Under a rule change in 2025, any candidate on an Era Committee ballot who does not receive at least five votes from the 16-member committee will be ineligible to be placed on that ballot again in its next three-year cycle. But a candidate can return to an Era Committee ballot after skipping a cycle.

For example, if one of the candidates on the 2025 Contemporary Baseball Era Committee player ballot receives fewer than 5 votes, they would not be eligible for the upcoming 2028 ballot. However, they would be eligible for inclusion again in 2031.

Any candidate who receives fewer than five votes on multiple Era Committee ballots will no longer be eligible for future consideration.

In all its forms, the Era Committees have elected 183 people (117 MLB players, 33 executives, 23 managers and 10 umpires) to the Hall of Fame. In 2024, Dave Parker and Dick Allen were inducted into Cooperstown by the Classic Baseball Era Committee.