Simple Secure On-Chain Voting App for Everyone

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Simple Secure On-Chain Voting App for Everyone

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

78000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

7

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

Groups and communities need a fair, transparent way to vote. Off-chain tools are easy to manipulate, and blockchain tools are too complex, creating a trust and adoption gap.

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

Yes

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

Our project relies on several key external resources, all of which we can manage effectively. We will use Cardano API providers like Blockfrost and Koios by purchasing credits early and monitoring usage, with fallback procedures ready to ensure smooth testing. Wallets (Lace, Nami, Eternl) will be tested early for full integration, and any minor API changes can be handled with simple workarounds. Smart-contract tooling (Aiken, Plutus) is open-source and ready to use on properly configured developer machines. Email and SMS invites (e.g., Twilio) will be delivered reliably using pre-purchased credits, retries, and manual fallback if needed. Security audits and community pilots are scheduled flexibly, and all code and assets will be published openly on GitHub and Figma under our chosen license, ensuring transparency and smooth collaboration.

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

All project code and documentation will be fully open source under Apache-2.0 and hosted in a public GitHub repository. This includes smart contracts, frontend, backend claim API, and re-tally scripts. Third-party libraries remain under their own licenses; service providers (email/SMS) are used but not included in code. The repo will be public through the full project lifecycle and beyond.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal.

Governance

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).

Frictionless governance app for Cardano: voters join via one-time invite codes (email/SMS) instead of wallet-first, reducing drop-off. Wallet connect only at vote or token claim for on-chain verifiability. Organizers toggle between public (address-linked) or anonymous mode with single-use tokens burned at voting. N fixed, non-transferable tokens ensure deterministic seat control, blocking Sybil attacks. Lightweight, low-bandwidth, offline-tolerant—built for clubs, universities, NGOs & micro-DAOs.

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

MVP shows:

• create elections with fixed seats, issue one-time invite codes to emails/phones. Voters redeem a code to get a non-transferable token and cast exactly one vote. Organizer chooses public or anonymous mode. On-chain tally via burn/lock and contract state.

Access & testing:

• By Month 4: deploy to Cardano Preprod with contract + dApp URL.
• Community testers call through Forum/Discord / telegram (socials); public pilot with telemetry dashboards (votes, unique voters, tx success).
• Sandbox demo: 50–200 seats open for all to try.

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

during and short after the launch of the app we plan to exceed

• 5–10 pilots,
• 500–1,500 invites issued, ≥80% participation target, reproducible tallies on-chain,
• and positive user feedback (80%+ say it’s simple & trustworthy).

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

Many communities today depend on tools like Google Forms, Telegram polls, or manual counting. These are easy to set up, but they can be manipulated, repeated, or miscounted. On the other side, blockchain voting tools exist, but most require technical setup, wallets from the start, and complex interfaces. This leaves ordinary groups — like student unions, clubs, NGOs, or small DAOs — without a trusted but simple solution.

Our project provides a straightforward on-chain voting app. The organizer sets up an election, defines the exact number of participants, and sends each person a unique code by email or SMS. Each voter uses that code to enter the app, confirm their identity, and receive the right to vote exactly one time. The organizer chooses whether the vote is public (so results show who voted for what) or anonymous (so only totals are shown).

The act of voting is recorded on the Cardano blockchain, meaning results cannot be altered after the fact. Even if the organizer wanted to change results, they cannot — because the final tally is based on actual transactions on-chain. This ensures fairness and prevents manipulation.

The solution is easy to use:

• Voters don’t need to be blockchain experts. They just need to enter their invite code and follow simple instructions.

• Organizers can prove results were fair because anyone can independently check the tally on-chain.

• Communities can decide how transparent they want the process to be, thanks to the public or anonymous toggle.

This balance of simplicity and trust makes the app innovative. It keeps the user experience very close to everyday voting apps, but adds the security, transparency, and fairness of Cardano.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

This project has the potential to make Cardano more useful and visible outside of crypto circles. Voting is something every group understands — from choosing a class representative at a university, to deciding budgets in a local club, to running board decisions in an NGO. By delivering a working app for these everyday needs, Cardano becomes directly connected to people’s real problems.

The immediate impact will be:

• Trustworthy community decisions. Small organizations will have a way to prove their decisions were fair, avoiding conflicts and mistrust.

• Lower entry barrier to Cardano. People who have never used the blockchain will interact with it for the first time in a very simple and clear way.

• Reusable code for the ecosystem. The app will be open-source, so other projects can build on top of it — for example, DAOs, student platforms, or event organizers.

We will measure success with both on-chain activity and community adoption. Metrics include:

• Number of invite codes issued (expected 500–1,500).

• Number of actual votes cast (target 80%+ participation).

• Number of test elections run (at least 5–10).

• Feedback from pilot users, aiming for 80%+ rating of simplicity and trust.

These numbers are realistic for a 6-month concept phase and will clearly show whether the idea works. If successful, the impact goes far beyond the pilots: it lays the foundation for broader governance apps on Cardano.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

• Track-ready architecture. We’re using Aiken/Plutus for contracts (clear types, safety), React/Next for the web app (fast iteration), and CIP-30 wallet APIs (Lace, Nami, Eternl) for signing. On infra, Blockfrost/Koios provide reliable access to Cardano Preprod for the Concept phase, with idempotent backend patterns to handle retries. We’ll run continuous integration, automated unit tests, and contract coverage ≥90% to keep quality high.

• **Deliverable discipline. **Each milestone declares acceptance criteria and evidence (addresses, hashes, screenshots, videos). We treat “done” as “verifiable by a third party.” This is the backbone of feasibility: a clear bar, a published artifact, and an observable chain result.

• Security baked-in. Before coding, threat modeling documents attack surfaces: invite brute-force, code reuse, replay attacks, front-running, griefing at close, and data leakage in anonymous mode. Controls include: OTP + rate limiting on redemption, strict token policies, short redemption windows, per-IP throttles, metadata minimization, and alerting. We commission an external security review during the pilot hardening phase (M4) and publish results (with remediation notes).

• Reliability and performance. We aim for p50 time-to-vote <45s on Preprod. The telemetry dashboard will monitor wallet connect time, transaction submission latencies, failure causes, and retry success rates. We’ll test under load (bursts at closing minutes) and tune UI/UX accordingly: clear status, optimistic UI where safe, and resilient retries.

• Privacy stance. MVP anonymous mode emphasizes unlinkability at the tally stage with minimal metadata. We document privacy assumptions and limits; for example, organizers should avoid combining extraneous identifying data. The public roadmap includes cryptographic upgrades once the Concept demonstrates adoption.

• Accessibility and localization. From the first milestone, we include WCAG AA checks (contrast, focus states, labels, keyboard navigation), and localized copy (English + other languages). This is not optional polish; it’s critical to adoption in mixed-device, mixed-connectivity environments.

• Delivery rhythm. We ship in four build waves: specs & UX (M1), contracts & core APIs (M2), app UI + wallets + telemetry (M3), open pilots + hardening + docs (M4), and a final stabilization & handover wave (M5). Each wave ends with evidence posted publicly: Preprod addresses, tx sets, code tags, and demo videos.

Risk management.

• Wallet compatibility issues: we test across Lace/Nami/Eternl early (M2/M3).
• SMS/email deliverability: multiple providers, fallback to manual code distribution for pilots.
• Participation drop: send reminder campaigns; extend window if needed; keep the flow <45s.
• Scope creep: strong guardrails—ZK privacy and mobile wrappers explicitly deferred.
• Infra hiccups: retry logic, health checks, and simple status page.

Why we’ll succeed. Our team blends governance design (to fit real groups), smart contract rigor, front-end polish, QA discipline, and community rollout. We’ve tailored the scope to what a Concept can credibly deliver: a working MVP used by real people, on chain, with measured results.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Research, UX & Technical Design

Milestone Outputs

• A clear design package that explains how the app will work from start to finish. This includes the process for organizers to set up elections, the way invite codes will be sent to voters, how each person can only vote once, and how results can be shown as either public or anonymous.
• Figma mockups will show the look and feel of the app, and a simple technical document will describe the contract logic and security checks.

Acceptance Criteria

• The design and flow must be reviewed by the team and two external community members.
• Mockups must cover the full journey of organizers and voters.
• The technical design must clearly describe how tokens and votes work.
• A pilot plan must also be prepared that explains how we will test the system with real groups.

Evidence of Completion

• Public GitHub folder with design docs,
• Figma links to interactive mockups,
• a short recorded demo video walking through the flows,
• and at least two written community reviews confirming the design is clear and useful.

Delivery Month

1

Cost

9000

Progress

20 %

Milestone Title

Smart Contracts & Core App Development

Milestone Outputs

• Smart contracts that issue one-vote-only tokens and prevent double voting.
• A backend system that manages invite codes and connects to the contracts.
• A basic version of the app with organizer dashboard and a simple voting page.
• Unit tests and first deployment on Cardano Preprod test network.

Acceptance Criteria

• Contracts must be published with working unit tests. They must be deployed on Preprod with real contract addresses.
• At least one test election with 20 dummy users must succeed from start to finish.
• Results must be visible on-chain and in the app.

Evidence of Completion

• Contract code in GitHub with test results, published Preprod contract addresses and transaction hashes,
• demo video of a test election, and documentation explaining how the contracts work.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

28000

Progress

50 %

Milestone Title

MVP Integration & Closed Pilots

Milestone Outputs

• Full integration of invite code redemption (sent by email/SMS), improved app design with wallet support, telemetry dashboard to show activity, and translations for English + other languages.
• Two closed pilot elections with at least 100 people each will be carried out. User surveys and feedback collection included.

Acceptance Criteria

• Both pilots must complete successfully with at least 80% participation in one of them.
• The telemetry dashboard must track claims, votes, and errors. On-chain results must match the app tallies.
• Feedback must be collected from participants and summarized.

Evidence of Completion

• Pilot reports, list of transactions on-chain, telemetry screenshots, participant survey summaries, bug/issue tracker, and demo of tally verification using blockchain data

Delivery Month

2

Cost

28000

Progress

70 %

Milestone Title

Open Pilot, Documentation & Final Release

Milestone Outputs

• An open pilot with at least 300 participants.
• Final polish of app features. Publication of admin guides, user guides, developer notes, and tutorial videos.
• External security review to check the contracts. A public version 1.0 release of the app.

Acceptance Criteria

• Open pilot must reach at least 80% participation. Security review must be done and all major issues fixed or addressed.
• Full documentation must be online and easy to follow. GitHub must show a tagged v1.0 release ready for community use.

Evidence of Completion

• Final reports, on-chain vote data, security review document, public guides and tutorials, release notes in GitHub, and community feedback from open pilot participants.

Delivery Month

2

Cost

13000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Total Request: 78,000 ADA

Milestone 1 — Research & UX (9,000 ADA)

• Project Lead (design + pilot planning) — 1,500 ADA
• Technical Lead (wallet + flow design) — 2,200 ADA
• Product Manager (coordination, reviews) — 1,200 ADA
• UX Designer (Figma, mockups) — 1,000 ADA
• Contract Engineer (spec draft) — 700 ADA
• Community reviewers & testing rewards — 600 ADA
• Tools & licenses (Figma, collaboration) — 300 ADA
• Admin & communications — 200 ADA
• Contingency — 1,300 ADA

Milestone 2 — Smart Contracts & Core App (28,000 ADA)

• Contract Engineer (contracts, tests) — 10,000 ADA
• Technical Lead (integration) — 6,000 ADA
• Frontend Engineer (basic UI) — 4,000 ADA
• Backend Engineer (claim API) — 2,500 ADA
• QA Engineer (testing) — 1,800 ADA
• Infrastructure (hosting, APIs, Preprod setup) — 800 ADA
• CI/CD tools, repo management — 700 ADA
• Security tools — 700 ADA
• Product Manager (coordination) — 1,000 ADA
• Documentation (initial) — 500 ADA

Milestone 3 — MVP & Closed Pilots (28,000 ADA)

• Frontend development & wallet integration — 7,000 ADA
• Backend & invite redemption — 5,000 ADA
• Technical Lead (oversight) — 4,000 ADA
• Project Lead & Ops (pilot outreach) — 2,500 ADA
• Contract Engineer (fixes) — 3,000 ADA
• QA & user testing — 2,500 ADA
• Email/SMS credits (pilots) — 1,500 ADA
• Telemetry dashboard hosting & setup — 1,000 ADA
• Translation (optional) — 1,000 ADA
• Pilot participant incentives — 500 ADA

Milestone 4 — Open Pilot & Documentation (13,000 ADA)

• Project Lead (wrap-up, reports) — 1,500 ADA
• Technical Lead (stability fixes) — 2,500 ADA
• Frontend/backend polish — 2,000 ADA
• Documentation & tutorials — 2,000 ADA
• External security review — 2,500 ADA
• Community demo events — 1,000 ADA
• Handover & maintenance setup — 1,000 ADA
• Contingency — 500 ADA

Budget notes & transparency

• Team compensation is explicit in each milestone line item above. All payments are milestone-linked and conditional on the acceptance criteria.

• Contingency appears in both Milestone 1 and 4 to cover small unforeseen costs. Final financial reports and tx receipts will be published.

• No hidden costs: the budget includes developer time, contract engineering, QA, delivery, pilot ops, documentation, translation, security review, and modest participant incentives.

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

Outcome-per-ADA. For the ADA requested, the community receives: production-grade contracts (mint/claim, one-vote, tally), a usable web app with wallet integration, a functioning invite system, localization and accessibility, telemetry dashboards, 5–10 real pilots, an external security review, comprehensive documentation, and public verification tools. All assets are Apache-2.0, so every Cardano builder can reuse them without friction.

Avoided costs. If ten DAOs or NGOs each built their own minimum voting tool, the ecosystem would spend many multiples of this budget duplicating core mechanics, re-discovering the same UX pitfalls, and skipping security. Our proposal aggregates that effort into one reusable baseline, then hands it back to the community.

Lean where it matters. We invest most ADA in contracts, wallet UX, and pilot execution (where risk and learning are highest). We minimize overhead, keep general PM light but effective, and constrain infrastructure to Concept needs (Blockfrost/Koios quotas, modest hosting). There’s no vanity work—every line item connects to verifiable outputs.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes