How to Delegate your INDEX Votes

Brian Adam (Sixty)
4 min readJan 19, 2022

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Governance Participation

As the Index Coop continues to grow, we anticipate an increasing number of decisions will need to be made by $INDEX holders. Active participation in Index Coop governance will be a key driver in helping shape our DAO. Not only that, but our meta-governance responsibilities will require active participation as well.

We realize that it may be impossible for $INDEX holders to vote on every proposal that comes through Snapshot. Therefore, we encourage $INDEX holders to delegate this voting power to any of our community delegates, who actively participate in Index Coop Governance.

What is Snapshot?

Snapshot is an off-chain, gas-less, multi-governance client that facilitates $INDEX holders voting on Index Coop improvement proposals and meta-governance votes. All Index Coop governance votes are conducted through Snapshot.

How do I delegate my $INDEX voting power?

1. Visit the Index Coop Discord server, and head over to the #delegates channel under the Governance Nest category. You can find a spreadsheet pinned to the chat, with the names of all the delegates, and a brief description of the delegate, as well as a link to their voting history (You can view this manually by going to Boardroom and pasting their ethereum address in the search bar).

2. Once you have decided on a suitable candidate, you can visit the Index Coop Snapshot page. Connect your wallet to snapshot, and select the ‘delegate’ option on the upper left side.

3. Once you are on the delegate page, simply input the address of your chosen delegate, and select ‘confirm’. This will bring up a transaction that occurs on-chain that you will need to sign (this will cost gas).

4. Once the transaction is confirmed, you have successfully delegated your voting power, congratulations.

If you wish to un-delegate your votes at any given time, simply go back to the ‘delegate’ page linked in step 2, a button will appear that allows you to un-delegate and get back your voting power (this will also cost gas).

If you wish to vote on a proposal, you can still do so yourself. Any vote you make on a given proposal will override the vote made by the delegate.

Note that your $INDEX tokens never leave your wallet. The only thing being transferred is the voting power carried by the $INDEX tokens.

How do I become a delegate?

Becoming a delegate is easy. Remember, though, that as a delegate, you are expected to be an active participant in Index Coop governance and meta-governance. So you should be sure that you are prepared to invest your time and energy in understanding Index Coop proposals and making informed decisions about how you will vote.

To become a delegate:

1. Visit the Index Coop Discord server, and head over to the #delegates channel under the Governance Nest category. You can find a spreadsheet pinned to the chat, input the required details, including your discord name, your ethereum wallet address that you will use for voting, and your voting history. Voting history can be found by adding your voting address at the end of this link (https://app.boardroom.info/voter/0x….).

2. Communicate your intention to become a delegate. Delegates are expected to make a formal introduction on the #delegates channel on Discord; as well as on the Index Coop forum. You can also use Twitter to announce your decision to become a delegate, but this step is not required.

3. Once you have become a delegate, you are expected to make a concerted effort to vote as often as you can. You should also take the time to understand what is being proposed and what effect it has on the Index Coop. It is also important to communicate how you will be voting on a proposal. This can be done by leaving a comment on the related forum post. A description of why you have made this decision is also helpful.

4. In the event your address is compromised you should communicate it via the #delegates channel, the delegates spreadsheet and in the forum so that users can un-delegate from your address.

Happy Voting!

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