[Validators](https://github.com/poanetwork/wiki/wiki/Role-of-Validator) on the network engage in active governance, managing their roles and creating on-chain consensus. This is achieved through a balloting process.
Ballot tracking provides transparency for POA token holders and promotes validator accountability. The poa-ballot-stats tool displays active validator voting participation ordered by percentage of missed votes.
Prior to downloading poa-ballot-stats, install and activate a fully synchronized node connected to the POA network. See the [POA installation guide](https://github.com/poanetwork/wiki/wiki/POA-Installation) for instructions.
`-h, --help` view command line options and help information.
`<url>` specify a different endpoint if your node uses a non-standard port. The default connects to a local node `http://127.0.0.1:8545`.
`-V, --version` prints version information.
`-v, --verbose` display collected ballot and key change events and the list of participating and abstaining voters for each ballot.
`-c, --contracts <contracts>` append a map file with POA contract addresses in JSON format. The current maps for the main and test network are in the `contracts` folder. Default is the main network `core.json` file.
`-p, --period <period>` a time interval in hours, days, months, etc. For example, `-p "10 weeks"` only counts participation in ballots created within the last 10 weeks.
`-b, --block` takes the earliest block _number_ as a decimal option. For example, `-b 524647` counts participation from block number 524647 onward.
If you have a recent version of [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/), you can clone this repository and use `cargo run --` instead of `./poa-ballot-stats` to compile and run the latest version of the code.
1. Parity must be fully synced to the correct node and running in full mode, not "light" mode. Check Parity UI and/or Task Manager to confirm Parity is synced and actively connected to peers.
2. `poa-ballot-stats` must run with a file matching the Parity network node. Use the contracts address file (`-c` option) that matches the network connection. Included are files for the main POA network ("core") and the POA test network ("sokol"). The Parity UI will show the current network selection in green. Make sure this is the correct network, and not the Foundation or other Ethereum network.
## Versioning
We use [SemVer](http://semver.org/) for versioning. See the [project releases](https://github.com/poanetwork/poa-ballot-stats/releases/) and the [changelog](CHANGELOG.md) for historical changes.
## Contributing
Please read [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for contribution and pull request protocol.
Contributors should look into [issues](https://github.com/poanetwork/poa-ballot-stats/issues) or reference RFC9 [Statistics of ballots](https://github.com/poanetwork/RFC/issues/9) for additional information.