Tabulation

Review and Approve Ballots (Tab Team)

• Elimination debate rounds will have an odd-numbered panel with at least 3 judges. Whichever team has won the majority of the judges’ ballots wins the round.
• A room’s toggle will not darken until all judges in that room have submitted their ballots. However, you may still select a room to view decisions for those judges who have submitted their ballots.
• Check for reasonableness in the final decision and toggle to approve.
• Record the winners on your hand-written brackets and calculate final ranks for those who lost. (See Appendix B)
• Check for previous hits in the upcoming matches by checking the record of preliminary matches, accessible from Debate Elim Prep Round 6 seeds.
• Report any unexpected Forfeit or Double Loss to the TD/RC immediately.

Requesting Clearance from Compliance (Tab Lead)

• Once all debate ballots are in and any round penalties have been applied and reviewed, the Tab Lead should ask the Compliance Lead if that style of debate is clear to proceed to the next elimination round (or Awards following the Final Round).
• If Compliance applies a penalty, the Tab Lead must process and review that penalty before approving the round.
• In the unlikely event of needing to process a Loss of Round for both teams in a match, notify your POC that this has been requested by the TD/RC, as it will have to be processed by the tech team at this time.
• The Tab Lead must receive clearance from Compliance before approving any debate elimination round.

Review & Approve the Elimination Round 

• Once all decisions have been reviewed by the Tab Team and clearance has been given by the Compliance Lead, the Tab Lead may Approve Round.
• If you just approved the Final Round of debate, proceed to the lesson on Finalizing Debate & Speech.
• If moving on to another elimination round:
  • Approving the round will generate brackets and ballots for the next elimination round.
  • The Tab Team should verify that their hand-written brackets match the brackets displayed, including seeds.
  • The Tab Team should verify that any teams matched for the second time have switched sides.

Review & Release Ballots (Tab Lead)

• Once brackets and ballots have been reviewed and found to be correct, the Tab Lead should Release Ballots to Staff 1–1.5 hours before the round is scheduled to begin to allow the Ballot Admin Team to control ballot release.

Prepare Announcement Sheets 

• Select Reports, followed by Announcement Sheet.
• Verify that competitors on the break announcement sheet match the winners from the previous elimination round and that no disqualified competitors are listed.
• For in-person tournaments:
  • Print a copy for the TD/RC and place in a folder or manilla envelope.
• For online tournaments:
  • Save as PDF and share electronically according to the TD/RC’s preferences.

Prepare Wall Postings for In-Person Tournaments (Tab Lead & Team Members)

• Prepare Wall Postings by selecting Report, followed by Wall Postings.
• Print the quantity of Wall Postings requested by the TD/RC or Communications Lead. The quantity needed may be reduced at some point in elimination rounds.
• Continue to organize sets of postings as reasonable for the facility and size of competition.
• Place the prepared manilla envelope(s) aside for the Communications Lead no later than 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the round.
• If needed, remind the Communications Lead to return manilla envelopes and paper clips for the next round.

Ranking Competitors Ending Competition Following an Elimination Round (Tab Lead & Team Members)

• When convenient, the Tab Team should determine the final ranks for competitors who were eliminated in the elimination round.
• The winning teams from the elimination round are written into the bracket for the next round. The non-advancing teams are marked in the margin, highlighted, and ranked. 
• Determine final ranks for the teams in that round by ordering them according to their preliminary seeds, with the best seed receiving the best possible final rank for that grouping.
• See Appendix [LINK] for examples.

Verifying Debate Speaker Awards (Tab Lead & Team Members)

• When convenient, the Tab Team should verify Debate Speaker Awards. This is worth checking during down time in elimination rounds because it should not change unless a team is disqualified or receives a Loss of Speaker Award penalty. Should such a penalty be applied in elimination rounds, Speaker Awards should be re-checked.
• See the lesson on Finalizing Debate & Speech for steps to verify Debate Speaker Awards.

What should I look for when processing Debate Elim rounds?

• Check for reasonableness in the final decision of each match.
• Be sure all round penalties have been applied and verified.
• Receive clearance from the Compliance Lead before you Approve Round.
• Verify that the next elimination round brackets and ballots appear as expected.
• Confirm the correct number of judges are needed on ballots.
• Be sure to release ballots to the Ballot Admin team on time.
• Verify and prepare Announcement Sheets for the TD/RC.
• Prepare Wall postings for in-person tournaments and have ready for the Communications Lead no later than 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the round.