# Vote Locking

### Locking AURA

Locked `AURA` will facilitate governance of the Aura protocol via two Snapshot spaces. Locks last for 16 weeks.

<https://vote.aura.finance/> - For all Aura Improvement Proposals (AIPs) and Balancer Improvement Proposals (BIPs). All users who are locked before the start of the following epoch will be able to participate in all decisions surrounding the moulding of the protocol.&#x20;

<https://gaugevotes.aura.finance/#/> - For all Gauge votes, locking will allow users to influence the direction in which rewards are allocated. Other protocols have demonstrated the economic power this carries... In order to vote on these proposals, a user MUST delegate to an address (self-delegation is ok) via the Lock page.

Aura can be locked on the [Lock page](https://app.aura.finance/#/lock) of the Aura front end.

#### Base vlAURA

As of [AIP-68](https://vote.aura.finance/#/proposal/0xe4e592a04e3cc166f3d5e6b1310bd2ac5169a529b88afcd1b99f7f8c3b5bb482), Vote Locking is now also available on [Base](https://www.base.org/) network. Delegation works a little differently here - there is no delegation options for <https://vote.aura.finance>, and for the Gauge Votes, users are encouraged to delegate to an auto-voter in order to streamline the distribution of their rewards. Users can choose to override the votes of their delegation however may not be able to receive rewards on Base for any votes they cast.

### Delegation

It is possible to delegate your voting power to a specific address. This might be useful if you are not an active governor or wish to take advantage of third-party protocols.

#### Delegating Aura voting power

After locking Aura, and before the next epoch, you must delegate your vlAURA to yourself, a third party, or to Aura.

To delegate to yourself, select "Self Delegate."  To delegate to third party, navigate to "Delegate to a specific address," enter the address, then select "Delegate."  To delegate to Aura, select "Delegate to Aura."

Once delegated, "Delegating" will show the total amount of vlAURA being delegated, and "Vote weight" will display your voting weight.

### Uses

**Balancer gauge voting**

Directing the flow of incentives on the Balancer protocol is possible by voting for specific gauges. Substantial markets are developing to incentivize voting for specific gauges, like[ Hidden Hand by Redacted](https://hiddenhand.finance/aura). This allows you to earn additional rewards.

**Internal governance**

Vote on changes to the Aura protocol

**Treasury management**

Direct the Aura treasury

**Balancer snapshot voting**

Vote on the outcome of Balancer snapshot proposals


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