DReps
needs 60%77,6 %yes of counted stakeClears
01Your vote
Every ada is a vote. Yours.
Your voting power is everything under your stake key: the ada in your wallet plus unclaimed staking rewards. One lovelace, one vote.
ada
That is 1,000,000,000 votes.
Nothing moves. At every epoch boundary the ledger takes a snapshot of your balance and adds its weight to the DRep you chose. Spend ada and your weight drops at the next snapshot.
Ada that is not delegated for governance is not counted. Pick a DRep, Always Abstain, or Always No Confidence.
02Three groups
Three groups. None decides alone.
- Constitutional Committee
- An elected panel. Members ask one question: does this follow the constitution? One member, one vote.
- DReps
- Delegated Representatives. They vote on every type of action, weighted by the ada delegated to them.
- Stake pool operators
- They run the network, so they vote on hard forks, security-relevant parameter changes, committee updates, and motions of no confidence. Their votes are weighted by the stake in their pools.
Every binding action needs a yes from at least two of the three groups. No group can pass one alone.
03Proposals
Anyone can propose.
Any ada holder can submit a governance action. It carries a 100,000 ada deposit, returned when voting ends, pass or fail.
Each action links to a public document and records its hash on-chain, so any later change to the text can be detected.
Votes are tallied at every epoch boundary, once every five days. An action has six epochs after it is submitted, about 30 days, to reach its thresholds. Once ratified, it is enacted at the next boundary. If time runs out, it expires. Either way, the deposit goes back.
There are seven kinds of action, and each needs a different mix of votes.
InteractiveSeven kinds of action
Who votes on what
Each action type needs its own mix of approvals. Pick one to see who votes and how much support it needs.
Treasury withdrawal
Pays ada from the treasury to one or more stake addresses. It must stay within the net change limit and follow the constitution's treasury rules.
DRepsNeeds 67%
of active DRep stake
of active DRep stake
Stake poolsDoes not vote
Not part of this decision.
Not part of this decision.
CommitteeNeeds 2/3
of committee seats
of committee seats
From the ledger
In August 2026, a 120 million ada withdrawal passed with 80.1% of DRep stake and six of seven committee votes.
DRep and stake pool thresholds are shares of voting stake. The committee votes one member, one vote, and needs two thirds.
InteractiveReplay real votes
Run the count
Yes has to reach the threshold as a share of the stake that counts. When an active DRep stays silent, their stake counts as No. Abstain takes stake out of the count. Load a real vote from the ledger, then change it to see the rules at work.
Real votes
From the ledgerRatified in July 2026. The upgrade to protocol version 11. DReps 77.63%, stake pools 52.54%, and six of seven committee votes.
Stake pools
needs 51%52,5 %yes of counted stakeClears
Committee
needs 2/3Tap a seat to cycle its vote: Yes, No, Abstain, Silent.
6 of 7of counted seatsClears
Ratified
Every group that votes on this action cleared its threshold. The ledger ratifies it at the next epoch boundary and enacts it one epoch later.
04Constitution
Every action has to follow the constitution.
The Constitutional Committee checks actions against it and votes No on any it finds unconstitutional. It votes on every type of action except committee updates and motions of no confidence.
Some rules run as code. A guardrails script checks every parameter change and treasury withdrawal when it is submitted. If the action breaks one of the limits the script encodes, the ledger rejects it before any vote.
Its first article sets out ten tenets. Changing the constitution takes 75% of DRep stake and two thirds of the committee.
“Cardano is a decentralized ecosystem of blockchain technology, smart contracts, and community governance, committed to improving economic, political, and social systems for everyone, everywhere.”Cardano Constitution, Preamble
05Treasury
A treasury spent only by vote.
Every epoch, 20% of the rewards flows into the treasury.
Ada leaves the treasury only through a treasury withdrawal. Each one needs 67% of active DRep stake and two thirds of the committee, must stay within the net change limit, and must follow the constitution's treasury rules.
The treasury page covers what the treasury funds, how spending is decided, and where its income comes from.
06Your move
Make your ada count.
Governance decisions are made every epoch, with or without your vote. Delegating takes one transaction, and you can change it at any time.
Find your partYour moveFive ways in
How much time do you have?
Five minutes
Delegate your vote.
- Pick a DRep whose views match yours, or choose Always Abstain or Always No Confidence.
- Most wallets support it. It costs a small transaction fee, plus a refundable deposit if your stake key is not registered yet.
- Switch or remove your delegation at any time.
About the numbers
The number of active DReps, the committee size, and the treasury balance load live from data.cardano.org. If they cannot load, the page leaves them out. The epoch number in the bar is computed from the mainnet schedule. Vote results are dated and quote the ledger's own ratification tallies.
Thresholds, deposits, and time limits are the protocol parameters in force in October 2026. Stake pools can set how their silence counts through their reward account; on hard forks, silence always counts as No.