Paul - Assuming it is a local meet, the side officials should raise their hands indicating that they saw an infraction. If the head judge agrees with one of the side judges, or if both side judges raise their hands (2 out of 3 judges) then the head judge should tell the lifter to put the weight down, as the lift has already failed.
At a national meet with the electronic system, the official, head or side, would push the no lift/bad lift button. If 2 of the 3 pushed that then the light would come on and the lifter would get the buzzer signal to lower the weight.
The idea is that if the lifter has already missed the lift due to elbow touch, etc., there is no sense for him or her to struggle to rise and then jerk it if the lift is already a bad lift.
Hope this helps. - Marty
