Ello, gov'nas!

The second Algorand Governance Voting Round, dubbed Governance Period no. 3, Vote no. 1, Measure no. 1, Governance Period no. 3, Vote no. 1, Measure no. 2 and (or simply G3V1M1 and G3V1M2), has begun! If you previously signed up to be a Governor and committed ALGO to governance, you are now eligible to vote. In this guide, we will walk you through voting, as well as break down the choices in this measure.

As a recap for Algorand Governance: those who sign up to be governors will earn ALGO for voting. However, if you miss a vote during a governance period, you will lose your ALGO reward for voting. This governance staking system has replaced the passive staking system that was active before.

This measure began on June 1st, 2022, and will run to June 15th, 2022. To ensure that you get your ALGO reward for voting, be sure to vote before the poll closes.

How do I vote?

On the device that you had signed up for governance previously, navigate to this webpage.
1. You should see your committed ALGO amount in the purple “status” box in the bottom-right.
Under “Voting Sessions”, click “Period 3, voting session 1”.
This page will give you an overview of the voting choices for each measure. The Algorand Foundation has more in-depth pages on the choices here for measure #1 and here for measure #2. I will also be breaking them down below.
This is also the page where you can cast your votes for each measure. There are voting buttons under each measure. Choose one option for each measure.
1. On the right side of the page, there is a “Vote all topics with Foundation” button. Clicking this will make your choices match those of the developers of Algorand. For these measures, they support option A for both. Note: The Algorand Foundation isn't actually voting; they're simply expressing their opinion on the matter.
Click “Submit your votes” in the bottom-right.
A window will open with instructions for sending a transaction. In Exodus, navigate to your Algorand wallet, and click “Send” (or tap the “send” arrow” on mobile).

Leave the send amount at 0.00. Input the address and memo note that the Governance page gave you. NOTE: Even though what the Governance page gave you is labeled as a “note”, this needs to go in the “memo” field, not the “personal note” field.

Send the transaction.
Back on the governance page, click “I've sent the transaction”.
Wait about a minute, and then reload the page. Clicking “close” in the box will also reload the page.

If everything was completed correctly, when you reload the page, you should see the message “You’ve already voted. You still have time to edit your votes.” at the bottom the page. There is a link for you to change your vote if you choose to do so.

Breaking down the choices

Measure #1: Including DeFi Participants in Governance

Option A

Granting governor status and twice the voting power to qualified DeFi projects as described below, whilst maintaining the same governance rewards program to Algo holders that commit for the governance period.

In order to participate in ALGO governance, you must commit to holding an amount of ALGO in your wallet. However, users who participate in DeFi on ALGO have their funds locked in DeFi protocols and aren't holding ALGO to participate in governance. This option gives DeFi protocols voting power for governance, provided they meet specific criteria. What these DeFi protocols vote for will be driven by its users. If this option passes, DeFi protocols would be granted double the voting power for the remainder of 2022. After that, their voting power will be the same as regular ALGO governors.

Option B

Keeping the status quo, awarding governor status only to Algo holders that commit for the governance period, and to no other group.

This option keeps everything the same. Sole voting power would be kept with the governors (you) only.

Measure #2: xGovs: Proposing & Upvoting Measures

Option A

Approve the mechanism as described below, establishing a process for bringing community measures to governance votes: the community at large can propose measures, the expert-governors (xGovs) vote to promote them to governance ballot, subject to final editing.

Currently, only the Algorand Foundation has the power to propose measures for governance. During the first governance period, a measure was passed that would also grant this power to Expert Governors, or “xGovs”. xGovs are governors chosen by the community who can also propose measures. While that measure passed, it hasn't been decided how xGovs would actually go about proposing measures.

This is the first measure that would tackle that. If passed, governors in the community would be allowed to submit measures to the xGovs. The xGovs would then vote on which measures they would like to see on the ballot for governors to vote on during future governance rounds.

Option B

Keeping for now the status quo. The foundation is tasked with proposing a different mechanism for bringing community proposals to governance votes.

If you disagree with this method of proposing measures, vote option B. If option B passes, the Algorand Foundation will go back to the drawing board on how xGovs will propose measures.

As I've said above, we will continue to make these posts to keep the community informed of Algorand Governance. We have an article in our Knowledge Base that goes more in-depth into Algorand Governance here. If you have feedback for us with these kinds of posts, other governance programs you'd like to see write-ups for, or would like to share your opinion for this governance round, feel free to give your thoughts below. As always, thank you for using Exodus!