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The Vote module is Axelar’s mechanism for reaching decentralized consensus on events that occur on external chains. When validators observe a transaction on an EVM chain — a token deposit, gateway command, or general message — they open a poll and cast votes. The module tallies voting power using quadratic weighting and closes the poll once a threshold is reached or the poll expires. Other modules (EVM, axelarnet) register handlers with the Vote module’s router to process the result of each poll.

Poll Lifecycle

Polls transition from Pending → Completed or Failed → Expired, with each state driven by vote tally and block height.

Quadratic Voting

Voting power is computed using the square root of each validator’s stake, reducing the outsized influence of large validators.

Vote Router

Modules register handlers under a module name; the router dispatches the poll result to the correct handler on completion.

End Blocker Processing

Up to EndBlockerLimit polls are evaluated per block, checking tally and expiry to drive state transitions automatically.

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Key Concepts

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PollID

A PollID is a unique uint64 identifier assigned to each poll when it is created. It is referenced by voters when submitting their votes.

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Poll States

StateDescription
PendingCreated, accepting votes, threshold not yet reached
CompletedVoting threshold reached; the winning VoteState is applied
FailedEnough votes cast against the event to reject it
ExpiredPoll exceeded its block-height deadline without reaching threshold

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TalliedVote

Each distinct vote payload accumulates power across voters: 
func NewTalliedVote(pollID exported.PollID, data codec.ProtoMarshaler) TalliedVote {
    d, _ := codectypes.NewAnyWithValue(data)
    return TalliedVote{
        PollID: pollID,
        Tally:  math.ZeroUint(),
        Data:   d,
    }
}

func (m *TalliedVote) TallyVote(voter sdk.ValAddress, votingPower math.Uint, isLate bool) {
    m.IsVoterLate[voter.String()] = isLate
    m.Tally = m.Tally.Add(votingPower)
}
The isLate flag marks votes submitted within the grace period after poll expiry; these count toward the tally but the voter may receive reduced rewards.

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VoteRouter

Modules register a handler function identified by module name. When a poll completes, the Vote module calls the appropriate handler: 
// VoteRouter dispatches poll results to module handlers
type VoteRouter interface {
    AddHandler(module string, handler exported.VoteHandler) VoteRouter
    HasHandler(module string) bool
    GetHandler(module string) exported.VoteHandler
    Seal()
}

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Voting Flow

1

Poll Created

An external module (e.g., EVM) creates a poll via the Vote keeper when it processes a confirm-gateway-txs transaction. The poll is tagged with the confirming module name and relevant event data.
2

Validators Vote

Each validator’s vald process observes the poll and submits a vote containing the event data it observed on-chain.
axelard tx vote vote [poll-id] [vote-data] \
  --from <proxy-key> \
  --chain-id axelar-dojo-1
3

Tally Accumulates

As votes arrive, the module tallies quadratic voting power per distinct vote payload. The threshold is checked after each new vote.
4

Poll Resolves

When the winning payload crosses the DefaultVotingThreshold, the poll transitions to Completed and the Vote router dispatches the result to the originating module.
5

End Blocker Cleanup

Expired polls are cleaned up by the end blocker (up to EndBlockerLimit per block). Failed polls trigger a rejection handler in the originating module.
Votes submitted after a poll’s deadline but within the VotingGracePeriod (configured per-module in the EVM params) are accepted but flagged as late. These votes still count toward the tally and may affect reward distribution.

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Module Parameters

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DefaultVotingThreshold
Threshold
required
Default fraction of quadratic voting power required for a poll to be completed. Must be in range (0, 1]. Default: 2/3.
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EndBlockerLimit
int64
required
Maximum number of polls evaluated per block in the end blocker. Must be greater than 0. Default: 100.
Individual modules (like EVM) can override the voting threshold with a module-specific value. The DefaultVotingThreshold is used when no module-specific threshold is configured.

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CLI Reference

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Query Commands

# Show vote module parameters
axelard query vote params

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Transaction Commands

# Cast a vote on an open poll
axelard tx vote vote [poll-id] [vote-data] \
  --from <proxy-key> \
  --chain-id axelar-dojo-1
In normal operations, the vald daemon handles vote submission automatically. Manual axelard tx vote vote calls are useful for debugging or re-submitting votes if vald missed a poll.

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