The postal ballot to choose the 5 elected members of the Motions Committee for the 2015 World Schools Debating Championships has now closed.
The WSDC Tournament Committee delegates of 31 nations cast their votes in the ballot. These nations were: Argentina, Bangladesh, Barbados, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Japan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United States and Wales.
Each nation was able to vote for a maximum of 5 candidates (though some nations chose to cast fewer than 5 votes). The votes for the 6 candidates were as follows:
- Charlie Morris (England) – 27 votes
- Branislav Fečko-Čegiň (Slovakia) – 25 votes
- Hayah Eichler (Israel) – 24 votes
- Daniel de Kadt (South Africa) – 22 votes
- Cindi Timmons (United States) – 19 votes
- Zaynab Al Nasser (Kuwait) – 16 votes
Therefore CHARLIE MORRIS, BRANISLAV FEČKO-ČEGIŇ, HAYAH EICHLER, DANIEL DE KADT and CINDI TIMMONS have been elected to serve on the Motions Committee for WSDC 2015. They will be joined on the committee by 2 members appointed by the host organising committee – VERNIE OLIVEIRO and SAMUEL MYAT SAN (both of whom are from Singapore).
Under the WSDC Rules, the Motions Committee will also have 2 further “Advisers” who will be selected by the Tournament Committee Executive at a later date. When the Motions Committee has chosen its provisional lists of motions for the prepared rounds and the impromptu rounds, they will share each of these lists with the Advisers. The Advisers will either approve the list or suggest that the wording or topic areas of certain motions should be reconsidered. If the Advisers recommend that any motions should be reconsidered, they will the take part in the Motions Committee’s remaining discussions as non-voting members.
The WSDC Rules require the Motions Committee to give the host the selected motions for the prepared rounds (4 of the preliminary rounds plus the Grand Final) 8 weeks before the first day of debates at the championships. The organising committee in Singapore will circulate the prepared motions to teams shortly after receiving them from Motions Committee.
Thank you very much to all the delegates who voted in the ballot and congratulations to the successful candidates. We look forward to some great debate motions at WSDC 2015.
Regards,
Mark Gabriel
Returning Officer