Off-chain voting

Off-chain voting replaces the transaction with a signature. In Snapshot's model, the voter signs an EIP-712 message with their wallet containing the proposalId, their address, the chosen option and a timestamp. With no transaction there is no gas, hence the gasless vote. The backend verifies the signature and computes voting power according to the strategies each space configures, by default an ERC-20 token balance, though also NFTs or custom logic. A snapshot block freezes holdings at a given moment to prevent buying tokens after a proposal opens. The result and the census stay on IPFS or Arweave as a permanent, auditable record.

It removes the gas barrier and sharply raises participation, which makes it ideal for polling a community or as a filter ahead of an on-chain vote. Its tradeoff is that on its own it executes nothing, unless it is linked to an execution module.

The best-known bridge to give it binding effect is SafeSnap, which connects a Snapshot vote to the execution of a Safe's transactions through Zodiac and Reality.eth. Most large DAOs, such as Uniswap, Aave and ENS, use it for signaling. The common stack combines Snapshot for the vote, Safe for custody and a Governor or module for execution.