Adding Judges
Add judges to your award program on AwardKit, share unique voting links, and send email invitations. No account needed for judges.
Judges are the people who evaluate entries using your chosen voting method. Each judge gets a unique voting link that gives them access to score entries.
Adding a judge
On the Voting tab, scroll to the Judge Voting section and click Add Judge.
Enter the judge's:
- Name: Displayed on their judge card and on the program page if you choose to publish your judging panel
- Email: Used for sending invitations (optional if sharing links manually)
Judges don't need an AwardKit account. Their voting link is their access token.
For larger panels, click Import next to Add Judge to load up to 1,000 judges from a CSV file. See CSV Import.
Judge cards
Each judge appears as a card showing their progress.
Each card shows:
- Name and email
- Completion percentage (for example "73% Complete")
- Entries voted count (for example "11/15 entries voted")
- Last active date
- A progress bar that fills as they complete reviews
Judges who have scored all assigned entries show a green Completed badge.
Sharing voting links
You have three options:
- Copy links: Copies all judge voting links to clipboard. Useful for sharing in email, a private Slack channel, or a tracking spreadsheet.
- Invite all: Sends email invitations to every judge at once with their unique links and a brief introduction to your program.
- Invite (per judge): Sends an email invitation to a specific judge from their card.
Each judge card also has a share button to copy that individual judge's link.
Judge links are private. Each link gives full access to score entries, so treat them like passwords. Don't share a judge's link publicly or in a thread where the wrong person could click it.
Editing and removing judges
From each judge card, you can:
- Edit (pencil icon): Update the judge's name or email
- Delete (trash icon): Remove the judge and their votes. Use this if a judge declines or has a conflict you discover later.
Tips for managing judges
- Invite at least 3 judges per entry to reduce individual bias. With fewer than 3 reviews, a single outlier score swings the result.
- Brief judges before they start so everyone understands the scoring expectations and the rubric for each criterion.
- Set a judging deadline and communicate it clearly. Most professional judges block 30 to 60 minutes for review and need 1 to 2 weeks of runway.
- Monitor progress mid-window and follow up with judges who haven't started. Polite nudges are normal and expected.
- Use Copy links to share all links in a single onboarding email or shared tracking sheet rather than sending one-off messages.
Voting Methods
Configure who votes and how on AwardKit. Pick judge-only, audience, or hybrid voting, then choose between Score Criteria and Top Picks for evaluation.
CSV Import
Bulk import judges on AwardKit from a CSV file. Map columns, preview rows, and add up to 1,000 judges at once with automatic deduplication and auto-assignment.