diff --git a/src/components/admin/round/ranking-dashboard.tsx b/src/components/admin/round/ranking-dashboard.tsx
index 4655c4d..32428da 100644
--- a/src/components/admin/round/ranking-dashboard.tsx
+++ b/src/components/admin/round/ranking-dashboard.tsx
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import { Input } from '@/components/ui/input'
 import { Label } from '@/components/ui/label'
 import { Textarea } from '@/components/ui/textarea'
 import { Slider } from '@/components/ui/slider'
+import { Switch } from '@/components/ui/switch'
 import {
   Collapsible,
   CollapsibleContent,
@@ -271,6 +272,7 @@ export function RankingDashboard({ competitionId: _competitionId, roundId }: Ran
   const [localCriteriaText, setLocalCriteriaText] = useState<string>('')
   const [localScoreWeight, setLocalScoreWeight] = useState(5)
   const [localPassRateWeight, setLocalPassRateWeight] = useState(5)
+  const [useBalanced, setUseBalanced] = useState(true)
   const weightsInitialized = useRef(false)
 
   // ─── Sensors ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -471,18 +473,32 @@ export function RankingDashboard({ competitionId: _competitionId, roundId }: Ran
   }, [evalForm])
 
   // ─── Init local weights + criteriaText from round config ──────────────────
+  // useBalanced is hydrated on every roundData refetch (it has its own toggle
+  // that persists immediately), so it sits outside the once-only guard.
   useEffect(() => {
-    if (!weightsInitialized.current && roundData?.configJson) {
-      const cfg = roundData.configJson as Record<string, unknown>
-      const saved = (cfg.criteriaWeights ?? {}) as Record<string, number>
-      setLocalWeights(saved)
-      setLocalCriteriaText((cfg.rankingCriteria as string) ?? '')
-      setLocalScoreWeight((cfg.scoreWeight as number) ?? 5)
-      setLocalPassRateWeight((cfg.passRateWeight as number) ?? 5)
-      weightsInitialized.current = true
-    }
+    if (!roundData?.configJson) return
+    const cfg = roundData.configJson as Record<string, unknown>
+    setUseBalanced((cfg.useBalancedRanking as boolean | undefined) ?? true)
+    if (weightsInitialized.current) return
+    const saved = (cfg.criteriaWeights ?? {}) as Record<string, number>
+    setLocalWeights(saved)
+    setLocalCriteriaText((cfg.rankingCriteria as string) ?? '')
+    setLocalScoreWeight((cfg.scoreWeight as number) ?? 5)
+    setLocalPassRateWeight((cfg.passRateWeight as number) ?? 5)
+    weightsInitialized.current = true
   }, [roundData])
 
+  // ─── Persist the balanced-ranking toggle immediately ─────────────────────
+  const persistUseBalanced = (next: boolean) => {
+    setUseBalanced(next)
+    if (!roundData?.configJson) return
+    const cfg = roundData.configJson as Record<string, unknown>
+    updateRoundMutation.mutate({
+      id: roundId,
+      configJson: { ...cfg, useBalancedRanking: next },
+    })
+  }
+
   // ─── Save weights + criteria text to round config ─────────────────────────
   const saveRankingConfig = () => {
     if (!roundData?.configJson) return
@@ -1001,6 +1017,16 @@ export function RankingDashboard({ competitionId: _competitionId, roundId }: Ran
             </div>
           ) : projectDetail ? (
             <div className="mt-6 space-y-6">
+              {/* Balanced-ranking toggle (per-round; persists across viewers) */}
+              <div className="flex items-center justify-between rounded-lg border p-3">
+                <div className="flex flex-col">
+                  <span className="text-sm font-medium">Use balanced scoring for ranking</span>
+                  <span className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                    Corrects for per-juror grading style. Off uses raw averages.
+                  </span>
+                </div>
+                <Switch checked={useBalanced} onCheckedChange={persistUseBalanced} />
+              </div>
               {/* Stats summary */}
               {projectDetail.stats && (
                 <div className="grid grid-cols-3 gap-3">