How to Allow Public Judging or Voting

Public judging (for judged voting contests) or public voting (for simple voting contests) allows anyone with your contest code to participate without needing individual invitations.

Understanding Public Access

There are two types of public access depending on your contest type:

• Public Judging (for Judged Voting contests): Anyone can join as a judge and score entries across multiple categories
• Public Voting (for Simple Voting contests): Anyone can join as a voter and pick winners for each position

Both use the same "Open Voting" scoring mode setting.

Step 1: Configure Scoring Mode

When creating or editing your contest:

1. Navigate to your contest dashboard
2. Go to Contest Settings or edit the contest
3. Under Scoring Mode, select "Open Voting" instead of "Invited Judges" or "Invited Voters"

Step 2: Enable Public Submissions (Optional)

If you want to allow people to create entries from the public contest page:

• Public Submissions: Enable this option to allow entries to be created by anyone visiting your contest page
• Note: This feature requires an upgraded contest

Step 3: Share Your Contest

Once open voting is enabled:

1. Share the Contest Code with potential judges (for judged voting) or voters (for simple voting)
2. Or share the QR Code for easy mobile access
3. Anyone with the code can visit your contest page and start judging or voting

How It Works

• No Invitations Needed: Judges or voters can join by entering their name (and optional email) on the contest landing page
• Name Required: All judges and voters must provide a name to participate
• Email Optional: Judges and voters can participate without an email address
• Judge/Voter Limits: Free plans have limits on the number of judges or voters per contest

For Judged Voting Contests:
- Judges score entries across multiple categories
- Results show weighted scores and category winners

For Simple Voting Contests:
- Voters pick a winner for each position
- Results show vote counts and position winners
- Tied winners (same number of votes) are shown as co-winners

Tips

• Use open voting for large public events where you want maximum participation
• Share the QR code at your event venue for easy access
• Monitor judge/voter participation from your contest dashboard
• You can still add specific invited judges or voters even with open voting enabled
• Perfect for: community events, school elections, board voting, public art contests, and large gatherings