diff --git a/IFComp/t/controller_Ballot.t b/IFComp/t/controller_Ballot.t
index f1961074..3fc69a8c 100644
--- a/IFComp/t/controller_Ballot.t
+++ b/IFComp/t/controller_Ballot.t
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ unless ( eval q{use Test::WWW::Mechanize::Catalyst 0.55; 1} ) {
 use FindBin;
 use lib ("$FindBin::Bin/lib");
 use IFCompTest;
+use Catalyst::Test 'IFComp';
+use DateTime;
+use File::Copy::Recursive qw(dircopy);
+
 my $schema = IFCompTest->init_schema();
 
 ok( my $mech =
@@ -17,8 +21,6 @@ ok( my $mech =
     'Created mech object'
 );
 
-my $comp_dir = $schema->entry_directory;
-
 my ($entry_id) =
     $schema->storage->dbh->selectrow_array('select max(id) from entry');
 $entry_id = $entry_id + 1;
@@ -50,4 +52,100 @@ $mech->content_contains("Your rating");
 
 $entry->discard_changes;
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Guard against ballot N+1 queries
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+sub _count_ballot_queries {
+    my ($mech) = @_;
+
+    my $count   = 0;
+    my $storage = IFComp->model('IFCompDB')->schema->storage;
+    $storage->debug(1);
+    $storage->debugcb(
+        sub {
+            my ( $op, $info ) = @_;
+            my $msg
+                = !defined $info ? ( $op // '' )
+                : ref($info)     ? ( $info->{sql} // '' )
+                :                  "$info";
+            return unless $msg =~ /^\s*(?:SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE)\b/i;
+            $count++;
+        }
+    );
+
+    $mech->get('http://localhost/ballot');
+    $storage->debug(0);
+    $storage->debugcb(undef);
+
+    return $count;
+}
+
+sub _add_ballot_entries {
+    my ( $schema, $n ) = @_;
+
+    # Simple website entry with on-disk files we can clone.
+    my $donor = $schema->resultset('Entry')->find(106);
+    BAIL_OUT('Expected fixture entry 106 to exist') unless $donor;
+
+    for my $i ( 1 .. $n ) {
+        my $new_entry = $schema->resultset('Entry')->create(
+            {   author   => 1,
+                title    => "Query Budget Game $i",
+                comp     => 2,
+                platform => 'website',
+                blurb    => 'n-plus-one regression fixture',
+            }
+        );
+        dircopy( $donor->directory->stringify,
+            $new_entry->directory->stringify );
+        $new_entry->clear_directory;
+        $new_entry->update_content_directory;
+
+        $schema->resultset('EntryUpdate')->create(
+            {   entry => $new_entry->id,
+                note  => 'fixture update',
+                time  => DateTime->now( time_zone => 'UTC' ),
+            }
+        );
+        $schema->resultset('EntryCoauthor')->create(
+            {   entry_id         => $new_entry->id,
+                coauthor_id      => 2,
+                pseudonym        => "Perf Coauthor $i",
+                reveal_pseudonym => 1,
+            }
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+# Count as anonymous so session/auth noise stays minimal and stable.
+$mech->get('http://localhost/auth/logout');
+
+my $queries_before = _count_ballot_queries($mech);
+ok( $mech->success, 'ballot loads before adding entries' );
+
+my $added = 15;
+_add_ballot_entries( $schema, $added );
+
+my $queries_after = _count_ballot_queries($mech);
+ok( $mech->success, 'ballot loads after adding entries' );
+$mech->content_contains('Query Budget Game 1');
+$mech->content_contains('Query Budget Game 15');
+
+diag(
+    "ballot SQL statements before=$queries_before after=$queries_after (added $added entries with coauthors+updates)"
+);
+
+# Batch loading keeps statement count flat; classic N+1 would add ~3+ per entry.
+cmp_ok(
+    $queries_after - $queries_before,
+    '<=', 3,
+    "adding $added entries adds at most 3 SQL statements (not O(n))"
+);
+cmp_ok(
+    $queries_after, '<',
+    $added,
+    'total ballot queries stay below entry-count (N+1 would exceed this)'
+);
+
 done_testing();