Judge the argument, not the room.
Agoracrux scores every round against a rubric you set, keeps each judge's reasoning attached to the score that carries it, and turns ballots into standings that hold up when a team asks how they lost.
- Rubric-bound
- Judges score named criteria at fixed weights, not an overall impression.
- On the record
- Every score carries the written reason that justifies it.
- Auditable
- Standings recompute from ballots, so any rank can be traced back.
This house would abolish closed primaries
Sample · SemifinalA score means nothing until it names what it measured.
You define the criteria and their weights before the round opens. Judges score against those criteria and nothing else, which is what makes two ballots comparable.
Weighted criteria
Build the rubric your format already uses — British Parliamentary, Lincoln–Douglas, policy, or your own. Weights are fixed at publication so they can't drift mid-tournament.
Reason-giving
A score outside the expected band asks the judge to say why before the ballot will submit. The reason travels with the score into the record.
Independent ballots
Panellists can't see each other's scores until all ballots are in, so the first submission doesn't anchor the rest of the panel.
Judge calibration
Agoracrux tracks how far each judge sits from panel consensus over time and surfaces persistent drift — a judge who runs generous on delivery, or harsh on evidence.
Rankings that recompute from the ballots underneath them.
Ratings update as each round resolves. Every figure below traces back to the ballots that produced it — open a team and you get the rounds, the panels, and the reasoning.
| # | Team | Institution | Rating | W–L | Avg margin | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kestrel A1 seed | Northgate | 1842 | 14–2 | +6.4 | +23 |
| 2 | Meridian B | St. Alban | 1798 | 13–3 | +4.9 | −11 |
| 3 | Thornbury A | Thornbury | 1776 | 12–4 | +3.8 | +8 |
| 4 | Halloway C | Halloway | 1741 | 11–5 | +2.1 | +14 |
| 5 | Ravensmoor A | Ravensmoor | 1709 | 10–6 | +1.3 | −6 |
Open your first round.
Bring a rubric and a bracket. Agoracrux handles the ballots, the panel, and the table.