# Voting ## Introduction Voting is how mediators express their verdicts for a given dispute. When a mediator is drafted to a dispute, they are expected to review the trade details and evidence presented by the swap counterparts before casting a vote. A mediator must predict what they believe is the right decision and what they think other mediators will decide based on the available evidence. Mediators can vote either to **release** the asset locked in a swap or **cancel** it and return any locked asset to their original owners. They cannot abstain from a vote. When a mediator's vote is among the majority voters (winners), they will receive a reward. But if their vote is among the minority voters (losers), a fraction of their security deposit is slashed. If a mediator abstains from voting by not casting a vote or not completing the voting phases, a fraction of their security deposit will be slashed. ## How Voting Works The Joint protocol voting system incorporates several phases over a fixed duration. * **Draft Phase:** In this phase, mediators are drafted into a dispute. The dispute does not begin until all mediators are fully drafted. In this phase, the swap is locked. * **Evidence Phase:** The evidence phase is where the mediator is expected to request and review evidence from the swap participants. * **Vote Commit Phase:** The mediator must encrypt and send their decision (release or cancel the swap). Votes are encrypted to prevent anyone from learning the choice made by the mediator. * **Vote Reveal Phase:** After the commit phase, the mediator must reveal their previously encrypted vote so it can be tallied. * **Execution Phase:** This is where Joint miners execute the verdict reached by the mediators. * **Undraft Phase:** After execution, all drafted tickets must be undrafted and rewards distributed. This is the phase where miners perform those operations. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.joint.exchange/concepts/dispute-resolution/voting.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.