Contest categories, rules and winners

No. Strictly Come Dancing decides the winner of its final purely by public vote, with judges' scores for reference only. At IODC, public votes and engagement do not by themselves determine the winners. Eurovision adds national-jury points to audience points and crowns the highest combined total. The format decides.

Any contest whose rules bar outside votes, any jury or panel decision where votes carry no weight, and any sweepstakes, because in the United States the FTC calls it illegal to ask you to pay to improve your odds of winning one. Political ballots are never taken.

Yes, and no supplier can prevent it. Square's rules allow it to forfeit a prize and pick an alternate if a winner fails to respond or return a required affidavit, and the Chicago Tribune disqualifies copied recipes in its holiday cookie contest. Nothing in those rules exempts an entry because of its vote count.

The organiser picks the setting, and platforms differ. On Choicely, Hide till the end shows results when voting ends, Until reveal shows them on the publish date, and Always shows them at all times. A delivery check waits for whichever moment the organiser chose.

No. The Arizona State Fair's event page gives no voting-close time, and the Ernie Ball rules measure online activity throughout the contest period without naming a separate voting close. Where a deadline is firm it can bite: World Cosplay Championship deducts costume-judging points when documents arrive late.

In the United States, the FTC says real sweepstakes are free and decided by chance, and that no prize claim needs your bank account or credit card number. It also says a skills contest can charge an entry fee, so a fee alone proves nothing. After that, read who runs the contest and who judges it.

Each contest sets its own consent rule. NASA's student art contest wants a parent or legal guardian to submit each artwork, the ACLU of Florida required signed consent for entrants under 18, and Sony's Future Filmmaker Awards may select an alternative winner if a valid signed consent form for an under-18 shortlist entrant is not received within seven clear days.

Three items: the link to the official rules, the closing date with a time zone, and the contest's name. With those the desk checks who runs it, who judges or votes, and whether outside votes have any room.