Multi-Round Jury Voting: Controls, Ties, and Recusal

Every jury round needs a purpose

Do not add rounds merely because the platform permits them. Each round should answer a distinct question and define what information, scoring method, and authority changes.

A common structure

Triage: remove clearly ineligible or noncompetitive submissions using a narrow pass, hold, or decline decision.

Scoring: evaluate the remaining work against a written rubric. Keep scales anchored with examples so jurors interpret numbers consistently.

Ranking or discussion: resolve capacity, balance, ties, and awards. Decide whether identity or additional context is necessary before revealing it.

Configure controls before opening

• Verify redacted documents and juror-visible fields.
• Collect conflict declarations and define recusal.
• Preview the exact juror view and scoring controls.
• Define whether jurors can revise scores and until when.
• Name who can reopen a round or override an outcome.
• Decide how missing scores, recusals, and ties are calculated.

In Crafted Call, juror preview and progress views help administrators verify access and monitor completion. Redaction, score changes, round transitions, and administrative actions should remain explainable in the audit record. Plan entitlements determine the available number of jurors and jury rounds.

Transition carefully

Freeze the completed round or retain a report before moving records forward. Publish the advancement rule before looking at the distribution. A cutoff chosen after seeing favored work is difficult to defend.

Do not count a recusal as a low score. If the system aggregates scores, confirm how the denominator changes. For a tie, follow the published mechanism: an additional scored criterion, panel discussion with recorded authority, or a designated tie-breaking vote.

Close with evidence

Record the round dates, assigned jurors, completion state, conflicts, scoring rule, advancement threshold, overrides, and final approver. Give jurors a clear end state so later administrative edits are not mistaken for their original decision.