Once you have obtained DAO tokens, you can vote "yes" or "no" on proposals. Voting and being an active member are privileges. You have the unique opportunity to be part of the crowd that decides what The DAO invests in, or doesn't invest in. Without you, there is no crowd, and the "wisdom of the crowd" is lost.
There are several possibilities to vote - it is our opinion, that the easiest way to do this is using an online wallet, integrating DAO interaction, like MyEtherWallet or soon JAXX. At this point, the most secure and official way is the Ethereum Wallet.
Mist requires a bit more effort and time to get set up. Luckily, you can find step-by-step instructions on how to install, set-up, and run Mist here. Mist also includes the functions to submit a new proposal, or to split from The DAO.
Voting is what makes The DAO different. Every decision The DAO takes is controlled via your vote. This is why everyone in the community is working hard to enable you to easily interact with The DAO contract, and to vote on proposals. The following table shows you some of the options you can choose to vote:
| Tool | Tutorial |
|---|---|
| Ethereum Wallet | How to vote via Ethereum Wallet |
| MyEtherWallet | How to vote via MyEtherWallet |
| The Mist Browser (experimental) | How to vote via Ethereum Mist browser |
If you have questions or need assistance, please visit the community's support forums.
Discussion and debate is a necessary component of The DAO to ensure users can make an informed vote. Proposals to The DAO should add value, both monetary and otherwise, to The DAO, Ethereum, and the larger world. Depending on your preferences, you can choose between a variety of channels to discuss, debate, vet, verify, and support proposals:
Remember that every vote matters, and that only you as part of the crowd can make this remarkable and revolutionary project happen!
Because The DAO has been deployed as an exact implementation of the Standard DAO Framework, the Whitepaper describes perfectly how the DAO functions and is a great place to start learning more.
The DAO was deployed using the source code that can be found and audited on github.
For a technical, step-by-step tutorial on how to vote on a Proposal, please refer to the Standard DAO Framework Wiki.
In the case that you want to ensure whether the proposal contract corresponds to the bytecode that has been submitted, you can follow this guide.
Here is a good example of a recent proposal verification process.
Accepting a Proposal requires a majority decision after a debating period of two weeks minimum, and a participation rate of 20% or higher calculated proportionally to the value of ETH requested in the Proposal.
Proposals can be as simple or as complex as needed: for example, The DAO can minimize the trust required by signing off Proposals that disburse ETH to its Contractor on a month by month basis as opposed to a lump sum. ETH can be sent to a single address or many, representing various trusted actors each contributing to smaller parts of the project: building a wiki, coordinating a marketing campaign or producing injection molds.
Fig.1 The DAO Proposal Voting Process
Proposals can also contain operational parameters — for example, they could contain a charge levied by The DAO each time one of the products or services The DAO commissioned from the Contractor is used by non-token holders. This is represented as a variable percentage, defined by The DAO itself.
The Proposal process allows for the code representing The DAO itself (the smart contract that holds the ETH) to stay immutable and therefore safe, while maintaining flexibility should The DAO desire to switch business models or become dissatisfied with the Contractor(s) performance.
