> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.swarmnetwork.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.swarmnetwork.org/swarm-network/network-governance/intro/retrieving-the-text-of-previous-ballots.md).

# Retrieving the text of previous ballots

**How do I retrieve the text of previous ballots?**

At [https://voting.swarmnetwork.org](https://voting.swarmnetwork.org/?enableDumpMasternodeDetails=true) you will find the [{ballot-address}](https://archive.secure.vote/0x%7BTXID%7D.json) smart contract for each ballot when clicking the “i" icon of each ballot.

![](/files/-M6oPHeU6fFqRhd0QaPn)

![](/files/-M6oPKHz_-O4KgzHYCDg)

Go to the "Events” tab in etherscan with [https://etherscan.io/address/](https://etherscan.io/address/%7Baddress%7D#events)[{ballot-address}](https://archive.secure.vote/0x%7BTXID%7D.json)#events , then scroll down to the earliest transaction of the contract. Click the Txn Hash to see more details about the transaction.

![](/files/-M6oPN47a5aiYnpxeL55)

The first event has details about the ballot instantiation. *Click to see More*. One of the data (typically the last one) will be the only one to have a 32 bytes [{TXID}](https://archive.secure.vote/0x%7BTXID%7D.json). It should be labelled *specHash*.

![](/files/-M6oPOyHSta67BVDihTX)

Copy the hash and then go to [https://archive.secure.vote/0x{TXID}.json](https://archive.secure.vote/0x%7BTXID%7D.json)\
That will get you the “BallotSpec”, which you can download and open it with a text editor to see the details