ISML 2021 Charter

The Annual Charter defines the values and limitations of and establishes a schedule for ISML. The Charter purposes to be the flexible aspect of ISML that complements the static Constitution. It aims to provide ISML with the ability to make the innovations necessary to remain entertaining each year.

  1. General Rules and Outline
    1. ISML 2021 will consist of: the Main Tournament (Section IV), the Tournament of Champions (Section XIII), and Exhibition Matches (Section XIV).
    2. ISML 2021 will be held across a total of Fifty-Three (53) match days (excluding Nomination Phase). The amount of match days each phase of the tournament will take will be specified on Section XV.
    3. A match day will consist of a voting phase and result announcement.
      1. Voting phase will be held as scheduled (see Section XV) and will run for Twenty-Four (24) hours. Staff may extend this time if system errors prevent votes from being submitted during this period. All extensions will be reported on the Website.
      2. Voting will be held on https://www.internationalsaimoe.com/voting
      3. Detailed Policies and Procedures of voting phase are explained in Section II.
      4. Result for each match day will be announced approximately Thirty-Six (36) hours after the end of each voting phase, unless decided otherwise.
    4. As constituted by Article I Section 4 of the ISML Constitution, ISML Commissioner and delegated Technical Staff will preside over ISML 2021 during the course of its duration, with authorities and duties as described on the ISML Constitution. These two parties will be referred as one term "ISML Staff" in this charter.
  2. Voting Policies and Procedures
    1. The IP addresses of voters will be logged in order to verify ballot authenticity and voter uniqueness.
    2. Voters are obliged to obey the Policies stated in Article IV of the ISML Constitution.
      1. Voters may not submit multiple ballots in the same round.
      2. Voters may not submit ballots using proxy IPs.
      3. Voters may not engage in bribery, blackmail, aggressive intimidation, or similar unethical activities.
      4. Voters may not engage in any other activities forbidden by the laws of their respective country or domicile. ISML, our Commissioner, and all of our Staff are not responsible for the actions of our users.
    3. ISML Staff reserve the right to decide whether a violation of the procedures has or has not happened.
    4. ISML Staff reserve the right to exercise punishments to Parties that are deemed to have violated procedures as constituted on Article IV of the ISML Constitution.
    5. Voters may change their vote (if cast in error) by contacting the Staff by email at [email protected]. Vote change requests must include the IP address from which the vote was cast and/or the vote id given at the confirmation page when a ballot has been submitted (page after vote is sent), the original incorrect vote, and the requested new vote.
    6. Voters may abstain from any match in a given round, but a ballot must have a minimum number of votes to be considered valid. This value differs depending on the round and will be specified on each voting ballot.
  3. General Rules of Eligibility and Qualification
    1. Character eligibility will be checked according to Article III of the ISML Constitution. Full-length animations referred to in Article III Section 3 of the ISML Constitution are animated series airing more than 20 consecutive minutes or accumulating at least 40 minutes of screen time.
    2. Consideration of female gender (for entry into Female Division or any other Female-based tournaments) includes: the character is female, possesses a female form (in which case only the instances when the character is female shall be considered), or must regularly exhibit feminine qualities when the character's gender is unknown or cannot be determined.
    3. Consideration of male gender uses the same qualification as Section III.B, except with regards to male and masculine characters.
    4. A character who qualifies as both male and female may enter one division only. The staff will consider the following points in their decision:
      1. The amount of screen time the character gets as each gender.
      2. The character's personal identity.
    5. ISML Staff reserve the right to deem any avatar-type character ineligible for the Main Tournament.
      1. We define "avatar" as any entity, virtual or otherwise, that is controlled by a distant conscience.
      2. An avatar may be eligible in the following cases:
        1. His/her status as an avatar has not been revealed in the anime adaptation.
        2. The character only appears as an avatar; i.e., the controlling conscience is never revealed or does not have a corporeal form.
        3. The avatar gains, or regains, his/her own individual conscience.
    6. Qualification for the Main Tournament will take precedence over all other tournaments except Tournament of Champions (see Section XIII.D).
  4. Main Tournament
    1. The Main Tournament will consist of Preliminary Periods, a series of Group Stages, and Postseason Elimination Stage.
    2. The Main Tournament will follow schedule as explained on this website unless decided otherwise (see Section XV).
    3. The Main Tournament will be divided into four Divisions: the Female Nova Division, the Female Stella Division, the Male Nova Division, and the Male Stella Division.
    4. Characters participating in any Division are known as Contestants. Characters satisfy any of the following conditions are not eligible for the Female Nova Division nor the Male Nova Division.
      1. Characters participated in any of the Tournament of Champions matches in the last Three years.
      2. Characters participated in any of the Postseason Elimination Stage matches in the last Three years.
      3. Contestants won any Necklace or Pendant in the last Three years.
      4. Contestants been awarded a Seasonal Diadem in the last Three years.
  5. Nova Division
    1. The Nova Division will consist of Four (4) Splits: the Winter Split, the Spring Split, the Summer Split, and the Autumn Split.
    2. Each Split will have a separate nomination period (except Winter and Spring, see Section VIII.B).
      1. During the Nomination Phase (Section VIII.B), Characters who are eligible for the Nova Division will first be considered for the Nova Division, even if the intent was to nominate them for the Stella Division. Only if they fail to advance to the Nova Division will they be considered for the Stella Division.
      2. During the Nomination Phase (Section VIII.B), Characters who are eligible for the Winter Split will first be considered for the Winter Split, even if the intent was to nominate them for the Spring Split. Only if they fail to advance to the Nova Division Winter Split will they be considered for the Spring Split.
    3. Characters must appear in an anime series, excluding trailers and music videos, during the following duration to be eligible for the corresponding Split:
      1. The Winter Split: from 1 January to 31 March.
      2. The Spring Split: from 1 April to 30 June.
      3. The Summer Split: from 1 July to 30 September.
      4. The Autumn Split: from 1 October to 11 December.
    4. Characters must satisfy the additional restrictions to be eligible:
      1. Character cannot be in any active match during the respective nomination period.
      2. Character is not currently scheduled to appear in any match after the respective nomination period.
      3. If a character participated in a Stella group stage first split matches, the character cannot be eligible for Nova division for the rest of the year.
    5. At the end of the Nova Division, the winner of the Female Nova Division will be awarded the Divine Circlet and the winner of the Male Nova Division will be awarded the Divine Crown, and both will be declared as Champions of Nova Division for ISML 2021.
  6. Stella Division
    1. The format and schedule of Stella Division are identical for both Female Stella Division and Male Stella Division.
    2. To be eligible for the Stella Division, a character must have first appeared before 30 June 2021. Any character data occurred after said date are not eligible for the Stella Division.
    3. Across the duration of the Stella Division, Seven (7) Gem Necklaces/Pendants will be distributed to the Contestants who are deemed to have performed the best on each phase of the Group Stages.
      1. The names of the gems are: Aquamarine, Topaz, Amethyst, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond.
      2. The mechanism that will be used to distribute the Gem Necklaces/Pendants will be ruled on Section XI.
    4. At the end of the Stella Division, the winner of the Female Stella Division will be awarded the Heavenly Tiara and the winner of the Male Stella Division will be awarded the Champion's Scepter, and both will be declared as Champions of Stella Division for ISML 2021.
  7. Automatic Qualification
    1. No characters are permitted to advance directly to the Group Stages.
    2. Characters satisfy any of the following conditions are permitted automatic entry into the Preliminary Period:
      1. Characters participated in any of the Postseason Elimination Stage matches in ISML 2020.
      2. Contestants won any Necklace or Pendant in ISML 2020.
      3. Contestants been awarded a Seasonal Diadem in ISML 2020.
  8. Nomination Phase
    1. The Nomination Phase lasts Seven (7) days (see Section XV).
    2. The Winter Split and the Spring Split of the Nova Division, and the Stella Division share a single character nomination form.
      1. Voters may nominate up to Thirty-Two (32) characters each.
      2. At least Eight (8) eligible anime franchises must be represented on the ballot.
      3. At least Two (2) female and Two (2) male characters must be included on the ballot.
      4. At most Four (4) characters from any given series or franchise may be nominated on the ballot.
      5. No character may be nominated more than once on the ballot.
      6. All nominations have equal weight. There is no ranking of nominations in each ballot.
    3. The Summer Split and the Autumn Split of the Nova Division have a separate character nomination form.
      1. Voters may nominate up to Twelve (12) characters each.
      2. At least Three (3) eligible anime franchises must be represented on the ballot.
      3. At least Two (2) female and Two (2) male characters must be included on the ballot.
      4. At most Three (3) characters from any given series or franchise may be nominated on the ballot.
      5. No character may be nominated more than once on the ballot.
      6. All nominations have equal weight. There is no ranking of nominations in each ballot.
    4. Invalid nominations on a ballot will be discarded individually and will not void the ballot unless any discard results in that ballot being in violation of Section VIII.B or VIII.C, in which case that ballot will be voided.
    5. At the end of the Nomination Period, the characters with the most nominations for each Division will advance into the Main Tournament until the allotted slots are filled. However, for the Nova Division, the following additional factors shall be considered.
      1. No series will be allowed more than Three (3) characters in a Split. (The Female Nova Division and the Male Nova Division shall be calculated separately.)
      2. Characters with more nominations have an increased chance of qualifying.
      3. Characters who have less nominations than a different character from the same series have a decreased chance of qualifying.
    6. The number of allotted slots for each Split of the Female Nova Division is Thirty (30). If, however, two or more characters have the same number of nominations, the number of allotted slots for each division is not subject to the Thirty (30) limit.
    7. The number of allotted slots for each Split of the Male Nova Division is Six (6). The following sequence of tiebreakers will be used to break ties in favor of the character(s) who fits the stated description:
      1. Character making his debut in the respective season.
      2. The series having less Contestants in the respective split.
      3. Selection by Staff.
    8. The number of allotted slots for both Female Stella Division and Male Stella Division is One Hundred and Twenty (120) minus the number of automatic entries permitted in Section VII.B. If, however, two or more characters have the same number of nominations, the number of allotted slots for each division is not subject to the One Hundred and Twenty (120) limit.
  9. Preliminary Period
    1. Female Nova Division
      1. Contestants of each Split will collectively be subjected to an Approval Voting match. The top Eighteen (18) Contestants will advance to the Group Stage, while the rest will be eliminated.
      2. In case of a tie, the nomination rank will be used to break the tie.
    2. Male Nova Division
      1. Contestants of each Split who make it past the respective nomination phase will be permitted to advance directly to the Group Stages. (Section VIII.G)
    3. Stella Division
      1. Contestants are tentatively seeded based on the results from the Nomination Phase.
      2. The following sequence of tiebreakers will be used to break ties in favor of the character(s) who fits the stated description, applying each subsequent condition only among tied Contestants:
        1. Characters participated in any of the Postseason Elimination Stage matches in ISML 2020. The higher final rank.
        2. Contestants won any Necklace or Pendant in ISML 2020.
        3. Contestants been awarded a Seasonal Diadem in ISML 2020. The better overall performance.
        4. Greater number of nominations.
        5. Selection by Staff.
      3. The Preliminary Period consists of Two (2) voting rounds, defined below.
        1. As to Round 1, the Contestants will be split into Three (3) balanced groups based on the nomination rank (Section IX.C.2). The Contestants will collectively be subjected to an Approval Voting match.
        2. As to Round 2, the Contestants will be split into Twelve (12) re-balanced groups based on the rank of the Approval Voting match (the nomination rank will be used to break the tie). The Contestants will collectively be subjected to a Limited Voting match. Voters may select up to Three (3) Contestants per group.
      4. The Contestants will be seeded based on the result of the Preliminary Period. The following sequence of tiebreakers will be used to break ties in favor of the character(s) who fits the stated description, applying each subsequent condition only among tied Contestants.
        1. Less Average Rank Points (ARP) of the Preliminary Period. ( ARP = ( Average Deserved Rank of Round 1 ) + 4 * ( Average Deserved Rank of Round 2 ) )
        2. Greater number of nominations.
        3. Greater Cumulative Vote Points (CVP) value.
      5. At the end of Preliminary Period, after all tiebreakers have been applied, the top Seventy-Two (72) Contestants will advance to the Group Stages, while the rest will be eliminated.
  10. Group Stages
    1. General Rules
      1. Each Period consists of Five (5) matches for all Contestants.
        1. The number of matches in a Round will vary depending on the number of Groups on each period.
        2. Each Contestant will have exactly One (1) opponent per match.
        3. Each Round will be done on a single, specific match day. Technical rules of each match day follow Section I, while the schedule of each match day follows Section XV.
      2. At the end of each Round, the Contestant who received the greater number of valid votes in his/her match will be declared the winner of that match; the opposing Contestant will be declared the loser. If opposing Contestants have an equal number of valid votes, their match will be declared a draw: both Contestants will record a tie in their statistics, and no overtime match will occur.
      3. A ranking system for each Group will be utilized to record the Contestants' results in each of the Periods and Splits.The following iterative process will be used to update the rankings within a Group: the highest available rank is given to the Contestant who satisfies the following conditions, applying each subsequent condition only among tied Contestants. All values are from the relevant Period and Split only.
        1. Greater number of cumulative wins and draws, in which a draw will be counted as half (1/2) the value of a win.
        2. Greater Period/Split's Cumulative Vote Point Difference (PCVPD/SCVPD) value.
        3. Greater Period/Split's Cumulative Vote Point (PCVP/SCVP) value.
        4. Selected by Staff.
      4. Other statistics may be posted and kept for study and analysis.
    2. Female Nova Division
      1. Contestants of each Split will be split into Three (3) groups of Six (6). Contestants in the same Group will compete with each other in a round-robin format.
      2. At the end of each Split, after all tiebreakers have been applied, the top Two (2) Contestants in each Group will advance to the Split final.
      3. The winning Contestants of the Split final, as decided by a Range Voting Match, are awarded the corresponding Seasonal Diadem.
      4. The top Four (4) Contestants in the Split final will advance to the Postseason Elimination Stage.
    3. Male Nova Division
      1. Contestants of each Split will compete with each other in a round-robin format.
      2. At the end of each Split, after all tiebreakers have been applied, the winning Contestants are awarded the corresponding Seasonal Diadem. The top Two (2) Contestants will advance to the Postseason Elimination Stage.
    4. Stella Division
      1. The Group Stages will consist of Three (3) Splits.
        1. The First Split will consist of One (1) Period, the Aquamarine Period.
        2. The Second Split will consist of Three (3) Periods, the Topaz, Amethyst, and Sapphire Periods.
        3. The Third Split will consist of Three (3) Periods, the Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond Periods.
      2. The amount of Contestants for each Split will be as follow:
        1. The First Split will have Seventy-Two (72) Contestants.
        2. The Second Split will have Sixty-Four (64) Contestants.
        3. The Third Split will have Thirty-Two (32) Contestants.
      3. On each Split, Contestants will be split into Groups. Contestants in the same Group will compete with each other in a round-robin format.
        1. The First Split will consist of Twelve (12) groups of Six (6).
        2. The Second Split will consist of Four (4) groups of Sixteen (16).
        3. The Third Split will consist of Two (2) groups of Sixteen (16).
      4. At the end of each Split, after all tiebreakers have been applied, Contestants who have performed well will advance to the next Split.
        1. After the First Split, the top Five (5) Contestants in each Group will advance. The 6th ranked Contestants will collectively be subjected to a Single Transferable Voting match. The top Four (4) Contestants will advance, while the rest will be eliminated. This additional match is known as a Wild Card Match and will occur alongside the Necklace and Pendant Matches (see Section XI).
        2. After the Second Split, the top Six (6) Contestants in each Group will advance. The Contestants ranked 7th through 11th in each Group will collectively be subjected to an Approval Voting match. The top Eight (8) Contestants will advance, while the rest will be eliminated.
        3. After the Third Split, the top Six (6) Contestants in each Group will advance. The Contestants ranked 7th through 11th in each Group will collectively be subjected to a Range Voting match. The top Four (4) Contestants will advance, while the rest will be eliminated.
      5. After each Split, all advanced Contestants will be re-seeded according to their results in prior Stages before being allocated to their respective Groups.
  11. Necklace and Pendant Showdown
    1. At the end of each Period of the Stella Division, there will be a Necklace Showdown for the Female Division to determine the winner of the Necklace for that Period. The Male Division will have a similar Pendant Showdown.
    2. Only one Necklace and one Pendant will be awarded per Stage.
    3. Contestants who win a Necklace or Pendant are ineligible for later Showdowns for the remainder of the year.
    4. A total of Eight (8) Contestants from each Division will participate in a Necklace/Pendant Showdown based on their performance during the relevant Period. For each slot, the slot will be filled by the eligible Contestant who satisfies the following conditions, applying each subsequent condition only among tied Contestants.
      1. Greater number of Period cumulative wins and draws, in which a draw will be counted as Half (1/2) the value of a win.
      2. Greater Period's Cumulative Vote Point Difference (PCVPD) value.
      3. Greater Period's Cumulative Vote Points (PCVP) value.
      4. Selected by Staff.
    5. The voting round will last Twenty-Four (24) hours.
      1. Voters will rank the Contestants in each of the Showdown matches.
      2. Nova Division Matches and Exhibition Matches may be scheduled alongside the Necklace and Pendant Showdowns.
    6. At the end of the Round, the winning Contestants, as decided by an Instant-Runoff Voting system, are awarded the Necklace and Pendant.
      1. Ties are resolved in favor of the Contestant who was ranked highest on the most ballots. A continued tie will be broken using the number of second-highest ranks, and so on.
      2. If the tie still persists after that, the same procedure as the one used in the Main Tournament will be used to break it (see Section X.A.3).
  12. Elimination Stage
    1. General Rules
      1. Contestants advance through the bracket according to traditional single-elimination rules.
      2. If opposing Contestants have the same number of votes at the end of an Elimination Round, the Contestant who had won their previous head-to-head match during the Group Stages will be declared the winner. If that match was also a draw, or did not occur, the higher-seeded Contestant according to the initial Elimination Stage seeding will be declared the winner.
    2. Female Nova Division
      1. Sixteen (16) Contestants are seeded according to their performances in Group Stage.
      2. The 1st round will feature the following matches based on seed: 1st vs 16th, 8th vs 9th, 4th vs 13th, 5th vs 12th, 2nd vs 15th, 7th vs 10th, 3rd vs 14th, and 6th vs 11th.
    3. Male Nova Division
      1. Eight (8) Contestants are seeded according to their performances in Group Stage.
      2. The 1st round will feature the following matches based on seed: 1st vs 8th, 4th vs 5th, 2nd vs 7th, and 3rd vs 6th.
    4. Stella Division
      1. Sixteen (16) Contestants from each Division are seeded according to their performances in Group Stage.
      2. The 1st round will feature the following matches based on seed: 1st vs 16th, 8th vs 9th, 4th vs 13th, 5th vs 12th, 2nd vs 15th, 7th vs 10th, 3rd vs 14th, and 6th vs 11th.
      3. Eliminated Contestants will be seeded into the Consolation Brackets that will determine the final rankings from third place to last place. These matches will take place during the Elimination Stage at the earliest possible opportunity.
  13. Tournament of Champions
    1. The most recent Eight (8) Tiara winners and most recent Eight (8) Scepter winners of ISML will participate in a side tournament to be held during the Main Tournament. This tournament is referred to as the Tournament of Champions.
    2. Tournament of Champions will be held across a series of matches in a round-robin format, in which a minimum of Two (2) contestants with the most wins will then go into Final.
      1. In case of a tie for second place, then all Champions that are involved in the tie will qualify for Final.
    3. Tournament of Champions Final will be a Range Voting match among all finalists. The winner of that match will be crowned winner of Tournament of Champions.
    4. Characters participating in the Tournament of Champions are ineligible for the Main Tournament.
    5. Past champions who fall outside of the Tournament of Champions bracket are eligible for the Main Tournament.
  14. Exhibition Matches
    1. Exhibition Matches are official ISML-hosted events designed to raise awareness of anime series that are not represented and Japanese media characters who are not participating in the Main Tournament. The matches may focus on anime series airing after the Nomination Phase had begun or on other outlets possibly previously unknown to members of the Community.
    2. Exhibition Matches have no effect on the Main Tournament, unless an exception for a specific match is announced at least one week before the start of that match.
    3. Exhibition Matches may be scheduled during the Group Stages, the Necklace and Pendant Showdowns, and the Elimination Stage.
    4. Jewelry Exhibition
      1. At the end of each Period of Stella Division, there will be a Jewelry Exhibition Match for each Division. The winning Contestants, as decided by the Instant-Runoff Voting Matches, are awarded the Jewelries.
      2. The Jewelry Exhibition Matches will occur alongside the Necklace and Pendant Matches (see Section XI).
      3. Contestants participating in the Necklace/Pendant Showdown are ineligible for the Jewelry Exhibition Matches of the relevant Period.
      4. A total of Eight (8) Contestants from each Division will participate in a Jewelry Exhibition Match. For each slot, the slot will be filled by the eligible Contestant who satisfies the following conditions, applying each subsequent condition only among tied Contestants.
        1. Lesser number of ISML winner posters.
        2. Earlier awarded an ISML winner poster, if applicable. The Contestants awarded his/her first ISML winner poster in the same year will be regarded as a tie.
        3. Greater number of Period cumulative wins and draws, in which a draw will be counted as half (1/2) the value of a win.
        4. Earlier participated in ISML Main Tournament, including Preliminary Period, Regular Season, and Group Stage. The Contestants made their debut in the same year will be regarded as a tie.
        5. Higher Necklace/Pendant Showdown qualifying rank (Section XI.D).
      5. A poster contest may be held to determine the characters' winning posters. Further information of the poster contest shall be announced on the Forum.
  15. Schedule
    1. All dates in this section will be published on the Website for easy access by the Community.
    2. All dates are subject to change. ISML may change the schedule without updating this section of the document; however, any and all changes must be published on the Website as early as possible.
    3. Nomination Phase
      1. The Nomination of the Winter Split and the Spring Split of the Nova Division, and the Stella Division is scheduled from 1 July to 8 July.
      2. The Nomination of the Summer Split of the Nova Division is scheduled from 1 October to 8 October.
      3. The Nomination of the Autumn Split of the Nova Division is scheduled from 1 December to 8 December.
      4. Nomination Phase will be extended if system errors prevent nomination submissions for more than Twenty-Four (24) cumulative hours.
      5. Result of Nomination Phase will be announced approximately seven (7) days after the end of the phase.
    4. The Main Tournament is scheduled from 22 July 2021 to 25 January 2022.
      1. All matches in this period are scheduled to start at 1000 GMT on the dates reported on the ISML Calendar.
      2. Female Nova Division
        1. The Winter Split will take place from 22 July to 27 August.
        2. The Spring Split will take place from 27 August to 10 October.
        3. The Summer Split will take place from 1 November to 23 November.
        4. The Autumn Split will take place from 15 December 2021 to 6 January 2022.
        5. The Elimination Stage will take place from 13 January to 25 January.
      3. Male Nova Division
        1. The Winter Split will take place from 28 July to 3 September.
        2. The Spring Split will take place from 25 September to 7 October.
        3. The Summer Split will take place from 8 November to 6 December.
        4. The Autumn Split will take place from 22 December 2021 to 3 January 2022
        5. The Elimination Stage will take place from 19 January to 25 January.
      4. Stella Division
        1. The Preliminary Period will take place from 22 July to 6 August.
        2. Group Stage - Aquamarine Period will take place from 12 August to 27 August.
        3. Group Stage - Topaz Period will take place from 3 September to 18 September.
        4. Group Stage - Amethyst Period will take place from 25 September to 10 October.
        5. Group Stage - Sapphire Period will take place from 17 October to 1 November.
        6. Group Stage - Emerald Period will take place from 8 November to 23 November.
        7. Group Stage - Ruby Period will take place from 30 November to 15 December.
        8. Group Stage - Diamond Period will take place from 22 December 2021 to 6 January 2021.
        9. Elimination Stage will take place from 13 January to 25 January.
  16. Legal
    1. The information presented on the website, including but not limited to biography information, statistical history, and copyright information, is not guaranteed to be completely accurate. ISML, including its staff and owners, cannot be held legally liable for any harm caused by the use or misuse of information contained within the pages located on the internationalsaimoe.com domain.
    2. The names of all characters and Japanese productions featured on the Website do not in any way belong to ISML. All copyrights and intellectual property belong to their respective owners. Images are used for identification purposes only.
    3. During vote-checking, Staff shall not show any favoritism to any Contestant during the validation process. Once voting results are released for a match, a member of the Community may appeal the results within Twenty-Four (24) hours. Once an appeal is accepted by the ISML Commissioner, the Staff will repeat the validation procedures and make any appropriate adjustments. After Twenty-Four (24) hours have passed, the result is final and cannot be changed.
    4. While the Staff will attempt to enforce the Voter Policies as strictly as possible, situations may occur where not all votes in violation of the Policies will be detected or where voters banned for Policy violations discover alternate methods to submit votes. The Staff will work to the best of their ability to minimize the occurrence of these situations.
    5. All scheduled dates and times are subject to change without prior notice. However once changed, the Community will be notified on the Website.
    6. Each year, ISML and the Staff attempt to present a fair system of matches. The Staff will ensure their best, honest, and virtuous effort to arrange a respectively even schedule for all Contestants without bias or favoritism or discrimination.
    7. The Staff is authorized to delay the start of the voting session should any problems arise due to technical issues or other areas of concern. In such cases, the Staff are allowed to delay the end of the voting session and the release of results.
    8. In the event of any discrepancy between the English version and the translated version, the English version hereof shall prevail.
  17. Amendments
    1. Once approved and published, the contents of this document shall not be altered. It may only be amended, in which amendments may update or supersede the statements in this document.
    2. Amendments may be suggested by any member of the Community and are subject to approval by the Staff and Commissioner at any time during the course of the tournament.
    3. Approved Amendments must be reported on the Website.