PROTESTS. The members of the NIETOC Executive Council present shall have full power to adjudicate any protest, dispute, or interpretation of the rules.

NIETOC PROTEST POLICY

The NIETOC will provide a form in the tab room on which protests may be filed. The following procedures will be followed:

A - Paperwork:

1. Name of coach filing protest (a coach on record with the tournament must file the protest) and school, city, state.
2. Code of person/team being protested.
3. Round being protested.
4. Section/room and speaker number of person/team being protested.
5. Specific infraction being protested described with supporting detail.
6. Signature of protesting coach.

B - Process. After the infraction has been observed/discovered, the protest must be filed within one hour. In the event of a protest, the coach of the person/team being protested must provide an official response to the ombudsman within 35 minutes. If the protest involves the script, the original work must be produced within the same time frame.

C - Adjudication. A protest shall be decided by the official ombudsman, who shall be appointed by the tournament director. The decision of the ombudsman may be appealed to the NIETOC Tournament Director. The Tournament Director's decision is final.

D - Disqualification. In case of a disqualification of a contestant in the NIETOC tournament, the ranks of other contestants will be adjusted for the round being protested only; any prior rounds will remain unchanged.