be defined by the fixed year 1900 receding into the past but by a fixed length of time from the present day, initially set at 25 years. Players who retired more than 25 years ago would be considered only by the Old-Timers Committee. BBWAA election Eligibility revisions The committee also revised the two-stage method by which the BBWAA election had been conducted in 1946. That year's election, which saw every candidate do less well on the final ballot than on the nominating ballot, led to the initial vote again becoming the main election. Whereas the 1946 system required a second ballot before electing a candidate, now a second runoff election featuring the top 20 candidates, with the potential to select no more than one player, would be held only if no candidate received votes from 75% of the writers in the first election. There was also no longer any minimum number of ballots required to make the election valid. The Hall of Fame Committee also instituted a change in the rules regarding eligibility of voters. Previously, all members of the BBWAA were permitted to cast ballots; however, it would now be necessary that a writer have been a BBWAA member for ten years before becoming eligible to vote. This resulted in fewer than half the BBWAA members casting ballots, and a 39% reduction in the number of ballots from the previous year. Members of the BBWAA now had the authority to select any players active in 1922 or later, provided they had not appeared in a major league game in 1946. Just as in the elections prior to 1946, voters were instructed to cast votes for 10 candidates; any candidate receiving votes on at least 75% of the ballots would be honored with induction to the Hall. If no candidate received votes on 75% of the ballots, the top 20 candidates would advance to the runoff election, with the vote totals from the first ballot not being revealed until the runoff was over. In addition to many candidates becoming ineligible due to length of retirement, some players who had served in World War II and who had received votes in the 1945 and 1946 elections had now become ineligible once again as a result of appearing in major league games in 1946. Also, the previous year's creation of the Roll of Honor had reduced the incentive to vote for managers,