Depending on the contest.

• In-person contests, the judges will remove the bottom ballot portion of their judges form. They will sign and print their name. The counters will pick up the ballots. Together, the two Counters and the Chief Judge will leave the contest area to count.
• For an online contest, the judges will be asked to send their "ballots" to the two Counters and the Chief Judge. The method of sending the "ballot" will be determined by the Chief Judge. Preferred method for the judges to send a text message with the ballot information. (Text messages are the easiest.Photos can cause delays. Email complicates things even more.) Note: Be sure to share the phone numbers where text messages will be sent with each timekeeper, judge, tie breaker judge, etc.)

Therefore, the Counters and the Chief Judge must have capability to receive messages. The rulebook requires a signed ballot. In the online world, when a judge sends their "ballot" via text it will be consideredthe same as a signed paper ballot. The judge will include their name on the message and the message will be sent from their phone number.

ONLY the Chief Judge will receive the "ballot" message from the tiebreaker judge.

• For an in person contest, the Counters and Chief Judge will meet outside the contest area to review the ballots and put the scores in the tally sheet..
• For an online contest, each judge will send their "ballot" to each Counter and the Chief Judge. Each counter will track judges scores on a tally sheet. At the end of the contests, the Chief Judge and the Counters will meet in a Zoom breakout room to review the scores from the tally sheet. It is expected that all the tally sheet scores will match. If not, the judges "ballots" will be reviewed to find the error.

The paper ballot will look like this.

An email or text message may look like:

NOTE: The Tiebreaker Judge must score ALL contestants. The other judges only judge and pick the top three.

Together the Counters and the Chief Judge will look at each ballot. Confirm it is from an actual judge and not counterfeit. And start filling the the Counters Tally Sheet. (This is a fillable PDF.) The names of the judges fill in the left column. The names of the contestants across the top row. Each judge's ballot information is entered. Just enter the numbers and add.

• Each speaker who is given a 1st place vote by a judge is given 3 points.
• Each speaker in 2nd place gets 2 points.
• Each speaker in 3rd place receives 1 point.
• VERIFY - VERIFY - VERIFY.
• Make certain that the marks and votes are accurately recorded.
• Add the totals.
• The speaker with the most points is the 1st place winner.
• The speaker with the 2nd most points is the 2nd place winner.  Etcetera

If the two Counters and the Chief Judge are in agreement, the Chief Judge will say “thank you” and the counter’s role is completed.

Maybe this Excel spreadsheet will run on a PC to help tabulate judges scores. (This spreadsheet has tabs for four contests..)

NO TIE - NO ISSUES - NO PROBLEM.

If there is no tie, the Tiebreaker ballot (which was given from the secret Tiebreaker Judge directly to the Chief Judge) is retained (unopened) and is discarded by the Chief Judge.

TIMING ISSUE. The Chief Judge receives the timer's sheet. There are disqualification times that the Chief Judge must be aware of. As a Counter, it is possible that the 1st place winner (for example) won the most votes by the judges BUT MUST BE DISQUALIFIED based on time. Then, the 2nd place winner becomes 1st; the 3rd place winner becomes 2nd, etc.

If someone is disqualified - the Chief Judge is to announce that disqualification to the Presiding Officer. When announcing the results of the contest, the Presiding Officer would simply say "THERE WAS A DISQUALIFICATION ON TIME". No names are used. Once said, the Presiding Officer announces and presents the awards.

IF THERE IS A TIE. If there is a tie – the Chief Judge will use the Tiebreaker Judge's ballot. Simply done. The contestant who is judged higher by the Tiebreaker Judge wins. (No points are used.)

Pretend - Ann Greenback got 16 points - is 1st place
Jack Beanstalk got 14 votes and would be in second place BUT Tony Tiger got 14 votes, too.
WHO WINS 2nd Place?

The Chief Judge pulls out the Tiebreaker Judge's ballot. If Jack is listed ABOVE the place Tony is listed, JACK WINS 2nd. Tony gets THIRD. REMINDER: There are no points used on the tiebreaker ballot. decisions are based only on position in the tiebreaker ballot. Even if the tiebreaker judge had Jack in 8th and Tony in 10th place. Jack is higher than Tony and Jack wins.

HERE IT IS AGAIN ...

• Tie in First Place. If a tie occurs for the 1st place position, the speaker scoring higher on the tiebreaker ballot will get the 1st place while the other tied speaker will receive the 2nd place.
  The 3rd speaker (which was not part of the tie) is the 3rd place winner.

Notice that the tie breaking ballot does not use a score to make the determination. It’s a simple decision based on the position of the contestant on the Tie Breaking Judge's ballot.

• Tie in Second Place. If the tie occurs for 2nd place, the same process is followed. The highest ranked speaker on the Tiebreaker Judge’s ballot will be the winner for the 2nd place position. This leaves the other speaker to be 3rd.

The Counter's role is done. The Chief Judge transmits the results to the Contest Chair.

Judge's information is discarded.