Doesn't matter. Debates can be useful public-speaking training for the participants and entertainment for the audience but as truth-finding exercises, they're useless. It's not the point.
Sounds good. Now you're having one person decide what the facts are?
I think what we need is a squad of experts sitting in the same room. If the facts depend on particular research, you hire those researchers to validate information and get questioned as part of the debate.
thats bullshit, all you need debate moderators to do is to maintain the rules about timing etc