A voter, also called a voting issue, is a specific argument a debater presents to the judge as the deciding factor for the round. Instead of hoping the judge picks the right thing to focus on, the debater tells them: 'Evaluate the round based on this specific issue, and on this issue, we win.'
Voters in Different Formats
Voters are most common in Cross-Examination debate, where closing speeches often explicitly list 'reasons to vote Affirmative' or 'reasons to vote Negative.' In parliamentary formats, the same function is served by the weighing section of a summary or whip speech, even if the term 'voter' is not used directly.
How to Write a Strong Voter
A strong voter does three things: identifies a specific issue both teams debated, explains why that issue is the most important thing in the round, and explains why your side won it. Generic voters like 'we had better arguments' do not help the judge decide - specific voters like 'the economy argument is the most important voter because it affected the most people, and we won the economy argument because the opposing team dropped our unique link' give the judge a clear path to your side.