‘DWTS: Athletes’: Here’s How Voting Will Work

The premiere of Dancing with the Stars: Athletes is only days away, and fans are wondering how voting will work during the new season.

The 26th season of ABC‘s Dancing With the Stars is already gearing up to be a fierce one with 10 athletes vying for the coveted mirror ball, and fans are already taking sides and eager to vote. Though with the drastically different season, which will only last four weeks and feature double eliminations, some are wondering just exactly how voting will work.

According to Gold Derby, this season will see voting open at the beginning of the episode and closing a few minutes after the last couple steps off the stage. While all of America can vote, Puerto Rico can also vote this season.

If you cast your vote but then change your mind, perhaps because another couple’s tango won you over, you can change your vote on the official Dancing with the Stars website at any point during the episode.

Toward the end of the episode, voting will close and votes will be tallied. Two couples will then be eliminated.

Among the 10 professional athletes announced on April 13 were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnny Damon, Mirai Nagasu, Chris Mazdzer, Josh Norman, Arike Ogunbowale, Jennie Finch, Tonya Harding, Jamie Anderson and Adam Rippon. While the athletes gear up to compete for the coveted Mirror Ball, fans are not being shy about sharing their opinions online.

The show will also see 10 professional dancers returning to the lineup. The group includes reigning mirror ball champion Lindsay Arnold, along with Sharna Burgess, Witney Carson, Emma Slater, Gleb Savchenko, Artem Chigvintsev, Keo Mostepe, Alan Bersten, Jenna Johnson and Sasha Farber.

Retired NBA player Abdul-Jabbar will be partnered with Arnold; MLB player Damon will dance with Slater; Harding is heading to the ballroom with Farber; figure skater Nagasu is paired with Bersten; figure skater Rippon joins Johnson; snowboarder Anderson joins Chigvintse; Olympic luger Mazdzer will dance with Carson; softball player Finch is paired with Motsepe; NFL player Norman will dance with Burgess; and University of Notre Dame women’s basketball player Ogunbowale will dance with Savchenko.

Hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews will also return to their roles, while Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli are all returning to the judges table.

The all-athletes edition of the competition is slated to premiere on Monday, April 30, at 8 p.m. The shortened four-week season, which means extra work for the competitors, will feature double eliminations each week, with the season finale set to air Monday, May 21.