• Contest Opens: January 1^st, 2021
• Deadline for Entry Submissions: April 30^th, 2021
• Judging: May 1^st – May 20^th, 2021
• Winners Announced: May 21^st, 2021
• Award Show: May 31^st, 2021

All organizations, companies and/or individuals involved in the creation and execution of political campaigns and public affairs programs are eligible to enter their work to Polaris Awards.

As campaigns or programs are collaborative efforts, potentially created by and involving more than one organization, company and/or individual, Polaris Awards allows contributors to be credited.

To be eligible, work must have been publicly released and implemented in a campaigning environment on or after November 1^st, 2019.

Furthermore, to be eligible work must have been created and executed with client approval and as part of a genuine political communication effort. Work that is created for the purpose of entering competitions is not eligible. The Polaris Awards organizer may require that entrants provide written confirmation from clients or any other document or information needed to verify the authenticity of a work.

Entries must reflect work in its original form, as it was originally released and implemented. Work must not be modified for entry and claims made in submissions must be based on fact.

If the jury queries the eligibility of a work, the entrant will be asked to provide documentary evidence to show that the work is eligible. If you have questions about whether an individual entry is eligible, please contact help@polarisawards.com.

Entries cannot be made without the permission of the client and/or owner of the rights of the work.

There can only be one entrant per entry. The entrant is responsible for the payment of entry fees and will be considered the sole contact for the entry. Multiple organizations, companies and/or individuals can be credited for their contribution to the work entered.

Entries must be submitted online using the Polaris Awards portal.

Entries must be submitted into the relevant categories.

The same entry can be submitted into more than one category to increase the chance of winning. However, a separate fee will apply for each submission. There are two types of categories:

• Regular categories, where each entry must consist of a single execution,
• Overall categories, where multiple executions can be entered as a single entry.

Entries must be submitted in English.

Work which is not in English should be translated or subtitled exactly as it was released and implemented. For work that only involves audio recordings, translations must be uploaded as a separate PDF document. For work that involves video, translations should be included in the video files as subtitles. Subtitles should be clearly legible. For Website categories, translate only relevant menu selections, headlines, and text.

Case films must be in English.

Documents and media, including primary uploads and all supporting materials must be final when the entries are submitted. No changes, replacements, or additions will be accepted after the deadline for entry submissions.

Documents and media submitted must not contain any references to the entrant and to any contributing organizations, companies, or individuals, as the jury receives entries anonymously.

Credits for work will be published on the Polaris Awards website as they appear on the entry from. Please make sure information is entered correctly and in full.

Entries must be submitted in accordance with the deadline for entry submissions to allow time for entries to be processed and reviewed.

Entrants grant an unlimited, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, transferable, royalty-free, paid up right to the Polaris Awards organizer to reproduce, perform, and display the entries on Polaris Awards website, social media pages, and other media owned, rented, or controlled by the Polaris Awards organizer.

Entrants are not permitted to enter work which is in breach of the rules above. The Polaris Awards organizer reserves the right to disqualify entries which are in breach of any of the rules above.

No refunds will be made on entry fees after entries are finalized.

If entrants withdraw work they have paid for from Polaris Awards, they can either submit a replacement entry into the same or an alternative category before the deadline for entry submissions, or use the credit at a future Polaris Awards event.

Polaris Awards organizer may refuse or withdraw entries at anytime if the entries:

• Do not meet the eligibility criteria.
• Violate national and international laws, regulations, and codes of practice endorsed by political consultants’ and public affairs associations.
• Use racist, sexist or otherwise discriminatory language.
• Offend national sentiments, religious sentiments or public taste.

If the Polaris Awards organizer withdraws any paid entries, the entrants can either submit a replacement entry into the same or an alternative category before the deadline for entry submissions, or use the credit at a future Polaris Awards event.

In the event of a complaint against a winning or shortlisted entry, a detailed investigation will be conducted by the Polaris Awards organizer. If the investigation upholds the complaint the entry and the award may be withdrawn.

Here are the accepted file formats for your entries:

An international jury composed of experts from political organizations, political consulting firms, research companies, PR & PA firms, direct mailing and field companies, creative and media agencies, production houses, design firms, technology companies, and universities are invited to judge entries via online panel. The jury members are recognized and award-winning individuals from different areas of political management.

If you are interested in becoming a jury member, please apply! If your application is approved, you will receive an email with further instructions.

Judging for the 2021 awards will take place online between May 1^st – May 20th, 2021.

Jury members will be asked to rate entries on the basis of strategy, creativity, craft, and effectiveness. How well a work met its goal within the context of the campaign will be paramount, regardless of whether the campaign ultimately prevailed on Election Day.

Jury members will not be allowed to evaluate any categories into which they have submitted entries.

Once judging is closed, entries in each subcategory will be ranked according to their average ratings to determine the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Polaris Award winners.

The 2021 Polaris Awards Ceremony will take place online on May 31^st, 2021.

Entrants will be informed by the Polaris Awards organizer if they have been selected as an award winner, but winning entries and the level of awards won will be kept confidential until the ceremony.

Entrants grant permission to the Polaris Awards organizer to publish winning entries on the Polaris Awards website, social media pages, and other media owned, rented, or controlled by the Polaris Awards organizer.

Winning entries will receive the Polaris trophy. Trophies bear the name of the winner and show the level of the award, the category, and the subcategory.

Trophies will be sent to the addresses provided in entries. Please make sure names and information are provided accurately in entries. Trophies with inaccurate information will not be replaced unless the information on the trophy does not match the information in the entry.

Replicas for the trophies can be purchased by other organizations, companies and/or individuals credited on the work after the ceremony.