Blockchain Windows

{
    "start_height": 2540000,
    "end_height": 2574200,
    "close_height": 2576000,
}    

Registration Window

If the end of the interval is in the future, the election definition must be updated after the blockchain reaches that height.

However, the longer the range, the more notes need to be downloaded and processed.

Refer to the technical section for more information on the calculations required.

The election does not necessarily have to include every output from the blockchain; it may choose to skip some based on publicly agreeable criteria. For example, notes that are part of transactions with more than 20 outputs could be omitted to avoid the spam. However, skipping notes based on shielded data is not possible.

Election Window

The close height is when the election stops accepting ballots. The client software should not send votes after this height. The check is enforced on the server side. If a faulty client sends votes past the close height, the election server rejects them.

This interval is covered in more details in the next section.

Status

The status is one of the following.

• Registration: the current height is in the election window. Voters should move their funds and leave them unspent until the window closes. They cannot vote yet because the window has not ended.
• Opened: Voters can vote.
• Closed: Ballots are not accepted anymore.

This is a recommendation for the client app. The server decides whether to accept or reject, based on the ballot content and the time it received it.

Note

Heights are not included in the calculation of the election hash and therefore may be adjusted after the election starts.

However, the Election Authority should clearly announce any change as it may affect the results.

If the Election Authority wants to commit to a given window they should explicitly include it in the name of the election.