The Outrageous Greatness in Las Vegas
October 12, 2015 - On Tuesday night, 5 Democratic Presidential contenders are going to take the stage in Las Vegas, and Ballotball.com is going to play referee. We aren't going to pick a winner--you, the voter, should decide that for yourself. What we WILL do is help keep the bout civil by calling penalties in real time. So, tune in live on Tuesday night, and check back with us tomorrow to find out who was penalized the most.
Update: see debate results here.
Update: see debate results here.
The Contenders
The Rules
-Each candidate is allowed 1 minute to answer a question.
-If another candidate mentions them, they are allowed 30 seconds for a rebuttal.
-No props, but each candidate has a pad of paper and a glass of water.
-If another candidate mentions them, they are allowed 30 seconds for a rebuttal.
-No props, but each candidate has a pad of paper and a glass of water.
The Penalties
Minor Penalties
Icing
- Getting way ahead of yourself. For instance, in the last Republican debate, Lindsey Graham was asked about his opinion on the right of bakers to refuse to cater a gay wedding. He responded: "Whether you're the wedding cake baker or the gay couple or the Baptist preacher, radical Islam would kill you all if they could."
Diving (Embellishment)
- Pretending to be offended. Might be hard to spot, but flopping will not be tolerated.
Abuse of the officials
- We had to institute this penalty after Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly got into a fight during the first debate. Save your claims about media bias for the post-debate interviews, that's what they're there for.
Joining a fight (3rd man rule)
- Two candidates can argue with each other, but let's keep the piling on to a minimum.
Puck out of bounds
- Swatting the question out of bounds and answering a different one.
Major Penalties
Biting
- Pretty much self-explanatory. This one's not likely to happen, but better safe than sorry: crabbiness is likely since the debate will go late into the night and the average age of the candidates is 69.
Boarding
- Pushing an opponent violently into the boards or advocating the use of waterboarding (which is illegal).
Icing
- Getting way ahead of yourself. For instance, in the last Republican debate, Lindsey Graham was asked about his opinion on the right of bakers to refuse to cater a gay wedding. He responded: "Whether you're the wedding cake baker or the gay couple or the Baptist preacher, radical Islam would kill you all if they could."
Diving (Embellishment)
- Pretending to be offended. Might be hard to spot, but flopping will not be tolerated.
Abuse of the officials
- We had to institute this penalty after Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly got into a fight during the first debate. Save your claims about media bias for the post-debate interviews, that's what they're there for.
Joining a fight (3rd man rule)
- Two candidates can argue with each other, but let's keep the piling on to a minimum.
Puck out of bounds
- Swatting the question out of bounds and answering a different one.
Major Penalties
Biting
- Pretty much self-explanatory. This one's not likely to happen, but better safe than sorry: crabbiness is likely since the debate will go late into the night and the average age of the candidates is 69.
Boarding
- Pushing an opponent violently into the boards or advocating the use of waterboarding (which is illegal).