PA-01
Scope and Eligibility
A Free Judging Clarification is a request for EFVD to explain how published criteria applied to the driver's own run or battle. It is informational and cannot change the result.
The paid Live Battle Protest process is for drivers who competed in the disputed battle. It covers evidence-based claims of a clear and material error. Administrative corrections, technical-integrity reports, conduct or safety reports, and disciplinary appeals remain free through the ordinary staff process.
You drove the battle
Only a driver who competed in the disputed battle may submit a paid protest for that battle.
Provide specific evidence
Identify the incident and provide information staff can verify.
Keep it private
Submit through the official private process.
PA-02
Choose the Correct Process
Use the process that matches the outcome you want. A clarification requests an explanation. A protest asks EFVD to review an eligible battle result.
| Process | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Objective live-battle protest | A verifiable fact, mandatory procedure or automatic rule, such as the wrong driver advancing, incorrect lead/chase order, wrong run count, confirmed start/server failure or result-entry error. |
| Subjective live-battle protest | A specific, material incident involving application of criteria such as contact responsibility, chaseability, legal passing, mistake severity, line, angle or proximity. |
| Uncertain live-battle protest | The driver can identify the incident and material effect but is unsure how to classify it. Event Ops may reclassify it. |
| Free Competition Question | A qualifying name, score-entry, calculation or system error reported before qualifying results and the bracket are locked. The run is not rescored. |
| Free Judging Clarification | An explanation of how published judging criteria applied to the driver's own qualifying run or battle. It does not request a result change. |
| Free staff report or appeal | Technical-integrity, conduct, safety, administrative and disciplinary matters use the ordinary staff-ticket process, without a protest deposit. |
How to request a Free Judging Clarification
After the event, choose Contact Staff → EFVD Competition → Competition Question in Discord. Enter Judging clarification as the subject. Identify the event, your run or battle, and the specific call or criterion you want explained.
A clarification is informational. It does not reopen, rescore or rejudge the run or battle, and it cannot change the result. EFVD is not required to review replay or other evidence.
Staff decides whether, when and how to respond. Internal votes, deliberations, notes and private evidence may remain confidential.
A clarification does not replace a Live Battle Protest or pause or extend its deadline. A driver seeking a battle-result correction must use the paid protest process when eligible.
PA-03
What You Cannot Protest
A protest is not a second judge vote or a way to re-argue the entire battle. A subjective submission must identify a specific incident, the relevant judging principle, supporting evidence, and a material connection to the result. Event Ops decides admissibility.
| Not for protest | Why |
|---|---|
| Driver did not compete in the battle | Only a driver from the disputed battle has standing to submit its paid protest. |
| General disagreement or judging preference | Dissatisfaction without a defined, material incident is inadmissible. |
| Qualifying score or judge interpretation | Qualifying is not part of the paid battle-protest flow. A Free Competition Question may correct an objective entry or system error. A Free Judging Clarification may explain the criteria, but neither route rescores the run. |
| Decision to call OMT | An OMT call itself cannot be protested. |
| Original runs after an OMT | Only the completed OMT runs may support a protest of the final winner, and subjective review cannot create another OMT. |
| Locked bracket stage, duplicate or unsupported claim | Late, duplicated, incomplete, outside-scope or unsupported submissions may be inadmissible. |
PA-04
Submission Deadlines
Event Ops applies the deadline announced for the event. A ticket draft is not officially submitted until its $5 CAD Stripe payment is verified.
Requesting a Free Judging Clarification does not pause or extend the paid Live Battle Protest deadline.
Do not wait
Open the private ticket, complete the draft and verify payment before the announced deadline.
Payment verification counts
Successful verification records the official submission time in Discord. An unpaid draft is not a submitted protest.
Notify Event Ops immediately
Report a payment-system failure in the open ticket. Event Ops records the Discord message timestamp and determines whether the event deadline was met.
PA-05
Evidence Requirements
The driver must identify the disputed battle and opponent, relevant run, specific incident, rule or judging principle, course location or approximate timestamp, and material effect. The driver must also provide supporting evidence or a precise reference to official evidence.
Show the incident
Use replay files, stream clips or recordings when available. Avoid cropped clips that remove important context.
Point to the moment
Include exact times, run numbers, battle names or message links.
Connect evidence to the result
Explain how the identified issue affected, or could reasonably have affected, the winner, a mandatory procedure, run validity or bracket advancement.
PA-06
How to Submit a Protest
Live battle protests are handled privately through the Discord Contact Staff panel. One active protest ticket is permitted per driver, and all grounds from the disputed battle must be included in that ticket.
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01
Open the private route
Choose EFVD Competition, then Live Battle Protest in Contact Staff.
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02
Confirm and classify
Confirm standing and restrictions, then choose Objective, Subjective or Uncertain.
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03
Complete the draft
Answer the structured questions and review the private draft summary.
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04
Pay and verify
Use the ticket-bound Stripe link for exactly $5 CAD, then use Check Payment. EFVD adds no transaction fee.
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05
Event Ops review
Verification officially submits the protest. Event Ops then decides standing, timeliness, scope, admissibility, and outcome in the same ticket.
PA-07
Review Authority
The announced winner remains unless EFVD confirms a clear and material error. Event Ops decides the review method, who is involved, what information is shared, and whether a competition correction is required.
A clarification response does not change the announced winner. EFVD may make a separate correction under the authority described in the Competition Guide.
Owned by Event Ops
Event Ops checks standing, deadline, completeness, scope, payment and the identified incident.
Assigned by EFVD
Appropriate judges or officials may review the claim. The driver does not participate in deliberations.
Final-run boundary
Only completed OMT runs may support a protest of the final winner; original runs stay closed and subjective review cannot create another OMT.
PA-08
Possible Outcomes
The $5 CAD payment is a refundable protest deposit, not a filing fee. Stripe payment verification officially submits the protest. The official outcome determines how the deposit is handled.
| Official outcome | Competition meaning | Deposit |
|---|---|---|
| Inadmissible | The submission lacks standing, is late, incomplete, unsupported, duplicated, outside scope or otherwise cannot be accepted. | Retained |
| Denied | The reviewed claim does not establish a material error; the announced result stands. | Retained |
| Partially Upheld | EFVD confirms part of the material claim and records any competition effect. | Exactly $5 CAD refunded |
| Upheld | EFVD confirms a material error and records any result, bracket or other competition effect. | Exactly $5 CAD refunded |
| Unable to Review | An EFVD system failure makes review impossible. | Exactly $5 CAD refunded |
A confirmed material error receives the refund even when the winner does not change. If a protest is withdrawn after review starts, EFVD retains the deposit. Stripe returns the $5 CAD deposit to the original payment method. Processing time may vary.
PA-09
Conduct During Review
Use the protest process to resolve issues privately, not to create public pressure. The Code of Conduct applies throughout the review.
Use official channels
Do not turn a protest into a public argument.
Stay factual
Insults, threats or harassment can create conduct action.
Accept closure
Once staff closes a review, continued escalation may be treated separately.
PA-10
Policy Changes
Last updated: August 12, 2026. This guide remains effective until EFVD changes it; it does not expire at the end of a season. Staff announce material rule changes through the official EFVD Discord.