diff --git a/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py b/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
index 9fdb3136..a49495f9 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
@@ -7,18 +7,31 @@ import yaml
 from bigchaindb.common.exceptions import SchemaValidationError
 
 
-TX_SCHEMA_PATH = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'transaction.yaml')
-with open(TX_SCHEMA_PATH) as handle:
-    TX_SCHEMA_YAML = handle.read()
-TX_SCHEMA = yaml.safe_load(TX_SCHEMA_YAML)
+def _load_schema(name):
+    """ Load a schema from disk """
+    path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), name + '.yaml')
+    with open(path) as handle:
+        return path, yaml.safe_load(handle)
 
 
-def validate_transaction_schema(tx_body):
-    """ Validate a transaction dict against a schema """
+def _validate_schema(schema, body):
+    """ Validate data against a schema """
     try:
-        jsonschema.validate(tx_body, TX_SCHEMA)
+        jsonschema.validate(body, schema)
     except jsonschema.ValidationError as exc:
         raise SchemaValidationError(str(exc)) from exc
 
 
-__all__ = ['TX_SCHEMA', 'TX_SCHEMA_YAML', 'validate_transaction_schema']
+TX_SCHEMA_PATH, TX_SCHEMA = _load_schema('transaction')
+VOTE_SCHEMA_PATH, VOTE_SCHEMA = _load_schema('vote')
+
+
+def validate_transaction_schema(tx_body):
+    """ Validate a transaction dict """
+    _validate_schema(TX_SCHEMA, tx_body)
+
+
+def validate_vote_schema(tx_body):
+    """ Validate a vote dict """
+    _validate_schema(VOTE_SCHEMA, tx_body)
+
diff --git a/bigchaindb/common/schema/vote.yaml b/bigchaindb/common/schema/vote.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5bd02cda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bigchaindb/common/schema/vote.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+---
+"$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#"
+id: "http://www.bigchaindb.com/schema/vote.json"
+type: object
+additionalProperties: false
+title: Vote Schema
+description: |
+    A Vote is an endorsement of a Block (identified by a hash) by
+    a node (identified by a public key).
+required:
+- node_pubkey
+- signature
+- vote
+properties:
+  node_pubkey:
+    type: "string"
+    pattern: "[1-9a-zA-Z^OIl]{43,44}"
+    description: |
+        Ed25519 public key identifying the voting node.
+  signature:
+    type: "string"
+    pattern: "[1-9a-zA-Z^OIl]{86,88}"
+    description:
+        Ed25519 signature of the ``vote`` object.
+  vote:
+    type: "object"
+    additionalProperties: false
+    description: |
+        Vote details to be signed.
+    required:
+    - invalid_reason
+    - is_block_valid
+    - previous_block
+    - voting_for_block
+    - timestamp
+    properties:
+      invalid_reason:
+        anyOf:
+        - type: "string"
+          description: |
+            Reason the block is voted invalid, or ``null``.
+        - type: "null"
+      is_block_valid:
+        type: "boolean"
+        description: |
+          This field is ``true`` if the block was deemed valid by the node.
+      previous_block:
+        "$ref": "#/definitions/sha3_hexdigest"
+        description: |
+          Sha3 identifier of the block that preceeds the block being voted on.
+          The notion of a "previous" block is subject to vote.
+      voting_for_block:
+        "$ref": "#/definitions/sha3_hexdigest"
+        description: |
+          Sha3 identifier of the block being voted on.
+      timestamp:
+        type: "string"
+        pattern: "[0-9]{10}"
+        description: |
+          Unix timestamp that the vote was created by the node, according
+          to the system time of the node.
+definitions:
+  sha3_hexdigest:
+    pattern: "[0-9a-f]{64}"
+    type: string