How Does Top Sims Contest Judging Work?

Four times a year, the fleet at large is asked to vote for the Top Sim in each Set, which then goes on to the final vote by the fleet to crown the Top Sim of the Year. But how do these sims get decided on for your votes?
The Contest year is divided into 26 Rounds, and each Round lasts for two weeks. At the close of the nomination period for each Round, the Top Sims facilitator compiles the nominations and brings them before the Top Sims Judges for voting. The Top Sims Judges, comprising of a member from each ship in the fleet, use their best judgement and the Contest ranking criteria guidelines to determine a ranking of the nominations using a system called “Instant Runoff Voting”. In order to maintain fairness and integrity, a Top Sims Judge is not allowed to give top ranking to a nomination from their own ship. Once all the votes have been cast from all Judges in a Round, the facilitator will calculate the Round winning nomination by compiling the votes.
The Top Sims Judge from each ship works hard to represent their ship, so be sure to send them a note of thanks for their efforts! If you are interested in being considered as a Top Sims Judge, let your commanding officer know, as Top Sims Judges are in place for set term lengths and new Judges are needed all the time.
For a more detailed look into the system that goes into determining Top Sim voting, be sure to check out the Contest wiki page and forum threads.