Rules and Tabulation Practices

(1) All rounds will use NPDL-TOC legislation rules as guidelines.

(a) Points of Information are allowed in all constructive speeches. There is no protected time.

(b) Points of Order are only allowed in rebuttals. Points of Order can be made if the opposing side brings up a new argument in the rebuttal with the exceptions of examples illustrating previous arguments and PMR responses to new arguments made in the MOC. Points of Order are not included in speech times.

(c) During the 20 minute preparation time, a debater may not consult with anyone except his or her respective partner. However, there is no restriction on the type of prep material that may be utilized by debaters. All teams will have access to the internet during prep time.

(d) A handwritten case or argument prepared prior to the announcement of a round's resolution may not be brought into the round. The case itself may be used in round, but it must be transcribed onto a new sheet of paper during prep time. Violation of this rule may result in forfeiture of the round at the discretion of the Tournament Director.

(2) Teams from the same school or organization will not be paired during preliminary rounds, but brackets will not be broken in elimination rounds.

(a) Hybrids will be considered by the tab staff to be unique schools and will not be protected from any entries.

(b) If teams from the same school or organization are paired against one another in elimination rounds the coach has the option of allowing the teams to debate or a walkover.

(c) Match-ups between schools and a partial hybrid should be decided on by both coaches; however, the tournament staff will not allow walkovers in preliminary rounds.

(3) Each preliminary round will be adjudicated by 2 judges. Each judge may disclose and/or provide an oral RFD. The total time for RFDs should not be longer than a combined 15 minutes for both judges.

(4) All rounds are open to the public and may be recorded.

(a) Participation in the tournament constitutes consent to being recorded and to publication of the recordings on the NPDL website. All recordings are the property of National Parliamentary Debate League.

(b) Teams may not refuse entry to spectators.

(c) Judges have the discretion to ask spectators to be removed from the room if their behavior is disruptive to the round.

(5) The NPDTOC uses a speaker point scale between 25 and 30, with points below 25 being reserved for overtly offensive performances. Points may be awarded in increments of 0.1.

         (a) 25 - Poor performance

(b) 27.5 - Average debater

(c) 28.5 - Deserves to clear to elimination rounds

(d) 29.5 - Best debater at this event

(e) 30 - Best debater you (the judge) have ever seen

(6) Tiebreakers

(a) Total ballot counts will determine breaks to the elimination rounds.

(b) In the case of a tie, head-to-head (if applicable) will serve as the first tie-breaker.

(c) Opponent seed will be the 2nd tie-breaker.

(d) Z-score will serve as the 3rd tie-breaker.

(e) Speaker points – 2H/L will be the 4th tie-breaker.

(f) Random number generation will be the 5th tie-breaker.