There seem to be a lot of misconceptions in this thread about how the Hugo Awards work. Essentially, they are a popularity contest, open to any science fiction fan who wants to participate in the process that year by nominating or voting.
Unlike almost all other awards, the Hugos have no juries, no nominating committees, no backroom meetings to decide what gets on the ballot and what wins the awards. The people who nominate and vote on the Hugos are you, me, anyone who's interested enough to become at least a supporting member of the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) for the appropriate year. That's it.
Here's the summary at the official site:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/about/
And more details:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-faq/
Note that the Hugo Administrators (who are appointed by the current Worldcon and thus change from year to year) have
no control at all over what gets nominated or voted on. Their only function is to make sure that the nominating process and the final voting are run in accordance with the Hugo rules. Here's the short version, and the detailed rules may be seen at the link on that page:
http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-categories/
The Hugo administrators also do not make the rules for the awards. Changes and additions are proposed and voted on at the Worldcon each year, and again this process is open to all members of the convention, at scheduled open meetings during the course of the event.
The only decision the administrators can make on nominees is on eligibility. For example, something nominated in the wrong year will not be accepted (the awards are for works first published in the calendar year prior to the convention at which the awards will be presented). On the other hand, something nominated in the wrong category will simply be moved to the correct category - the administrators do their best to ensure that anything nominated will be counted. The top five nominations in each category then appear on the final ballot, to be voted on by the entire membership of the convention - you do
not need to attend the convention to vote.
Note also that the Hugo administrators and the entire World Science Fiction Convention committee and staff are, without exception, unpaid volunteers. And as has always been the case since the first Worldcon in 1939, the guests and program participants (all the way up to the Guests of Honor) are also unpaid. There are no appearance fees, meeting fees, autograph fees, or any other payment to participants. The only exception to this is that the GoHs are generally compensated for travel expenses and receive a free hotel room and a food & drink per diem.
So what's behind the claim that the Hugos are controlled by some mysterious liberal gang, as the Sad Puppy clique would have us believe? Nothing at all, unless this mythical organization pays off hundreds or thousands of Hugo nominators and voters each year. The Sad Puppy clique itself appears to be trying to game the awards by suggesting that sympathizers should sign up for the convention and nominate and vote as a bloc, regardless of whether they have actually read or seen the works on the approved list, behavior counter to everything the Hugos have stood for for almost sixty years.
For anyone who's read this far and is still interested, I have no connection with the Hugo Administrators nor with the current or previous Worldcons (except that some of the individuals involved in running these functions are friends). I've been attending Worldcons since 1967 and have nominated and voted in the Hugos many times. It's very discouraging to see a small group trying to politicize these awards.