Duties of a Chief Judge

Before the Contest Date:

• Read the Speech Contest Rulebook
  Ensure you understand the rules. Do not allow exceptions. If in doubt, ask the District Lieutenant Governor of Educational and Training for clarification.
   
• Appoint your assistants for the contest
  A well-run contest at the Club or Area level needs at least five judges, two timers, two counters, and a tie-breaking judge. A well-run contest at the Division or District level needs at least seven judges, two timers, three counters, and a tie-breaking judge. Ideally, the Chief Judge does not vote (as implied by rule 6A and 6B in the 2002 Rulebook), but could if there were insufficient judges, typically at the Club level. Read the Rulebook for the criteria for selecting judges. Ensure all assistants are familiar with the contest procedures and operation of any equipment. Choose competent people you can trust. Include less experienced people and train them.

On the Day of the Contest:

• Arrive early
  Help set up. Meet your contest officials to ensure their presence and their role.
   
• Check the eligibility of all contestants
  Receive the speaker's certification of eligibility and originality forms from the Contest Chair and inspect them. Check the signatures. For the International Speech Contest only, ensure that all contestants previously presented at least six speeches from the Communication and Leadership Program manual.
   
• Brief the timers
  Give the timers one set of timing lights and one set of coloured cards in case of failure of the lights. Set up the lights in full view of the contestants, preferably hidden from the judges and audience. Give the timers a stop watch and a Time Record Sheet. Review the timing instructions on the time record sheet. Highlight the specific timing instructions for the current contest for the benefit of the timers.
   
• Brief the counters
  Give the counters the names of the judges and names of the contests to enter on the counter's tally sheet before the contest starts. Make sure they are ready to collect the ballots immediately after the contest. You may give them envelops in which to place the collected ballots. Have a separate envelop in which to place the tie-breaking judge's ballot, which you will collect personally.
   
• Brief the judges
  Give each judge a judge's guide and ballot for the current contest, complete with judging criteria on the reverse side. Give one tie-breaking judge's guide and ballot to a tie-breaking judge, whose identity is known only to you. The tie-breaking judge must return the completed ballot after the contest personally to you as Cheif Judge. Emphasize the importance of the qualities of good judges and their obligations as judges to pick the top three contestants without any tie votes. Review the judging guide and criteria with the judges. Remind them to observe the Judge's Code of Ethics on the back of each guide and ballot. Instruct all judges on the correct completion of the judge's ballot.

During the Contest:

• Summarize the rules
  Before the contest begins, the Contest Chair will invite you to summarize the contest rules and answer questions. Be brief.
  • Mention that you inspected the certificates of eligibility and all contestants are eligible.
  • Review the timing criteria.
  • Remind the audience to remain quiet during the minute between speeches while judges mark their ballots.
  • Instruct the audience to turn off pagers, cellular phones, and other noise makers.
  • Mention that protests are limited to contestants and judges and must be lodged with the Chief Judge or Contest Chairman before the results are announced.
  • Mention that the decisions of the judges are final.
       
• Oversee the ballot counting
  Immediately after the contest is over, supervise the collection of ballots:
  1. While the ballot counters collect ballots from judges, you collect the Time Record Sheets from the timers and collect the tie-breaking judge's ballot.  Ensure ALL judges ballots were collected.
  2. Escort the ballot counters to a private room.
  3. Inspect all ballots to ensure they are filled out correctly. Any incomplete or improperly filled out ballot is voided.
  4. Give the ballots to the counters and have them fill out the Counter's Tally Sheet according to its instructions. Count the ballots twice to ensure accuracy. Refer to the tie-breaking judge's ballot ONLY if there is a tie.
  5. Inspect the Time Record Sheet(s) for any disqualifications based on timing. Draw a line through the name of any time-disqualified contestant.
  6. Transfer the names of the first-, second- and third-place winners to the corresponding spaces on the Contest Results Form. Note on the form whether there was a time disqualification. Have the counters sign the form, and pass the completed form to the Contest Chair.
  7. Write the names of the winners on the corresponding certificate.
  8. When the counting is complete, place all ballots, Counter's Tally Sheet and Time Record Sheet into one envelope for safekeeping until the results are announced by the chair. Present the Contest Results Form and the winners' certificates to the Contest Chair. Never reveal any part of the ballot results.
      
• Confirm the announcement of winners
  Stand with the Contest Chair as the winners are announced.  Ensure the correct ranking is given as each name is read. Correct the Contest Chair if a mistake is made and have him/her read the correction. Once all results are announced, they are FINAL.
   
• Destroy the ballots
  There is no need for a motion to destroy the ballots. Simply do so.

What Happens If There Is a Tie?

Judge's Ballot

A Toastmasters speech contest cannot have a tie for any ranking. If a judge gave two contestants the same score, then the judge must rank one over the other before submitting his/her ballot.  If a judge's ballot shows two contestants at the same rank, the ballot is voided.

Transcribe Rankings to the Counter Tally Sheet

From each judge, the first-place contestant receives 3 points, second-place 2 points, third-place 1 point, and all other contestants receive zero points. The counters transcribe each judge's result to the Counters' Tally Sheet, entering points in the appropriate square under each contestant's name.  The Chief Judge examines the Tie-breaking Judge's Ballot, but counts it only in the event of a tie in the top three places.

After the results from the contest judges' ballots are entered, the totals the contestants are summed.  The contestant with the highest score places first, the next highest score places second, and the next highest score places third.

Break The Tie

If there is a tie in the top three rankings, break the tie using the Tie-breaking Judge's Ballot. Of the contestants tied on the Counter's Tally Sheet, the one ranked highest on the Tie-breaking Judge's Ballot takes the contested place. The other contestant takes the next lower place. Once the first three positions are filled, the remaining contestants are dropped from among the top three winners.

Example