diff --git a/bigchaindb/consensus.py b/bigchaindb/consensus.py
index bfb054af..10024d76 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/consensus.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/consensus.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from bigchaindb.util import verify_vote_signature
+from bigchaindb.common.schema import validate_vote_schema, SchemaValidationError
 
 
 class BaseConsensusRules():
@@ -19,10 +20,16 @@ class BaseConsensusRules():
         return block.validate(bigchain)
 
     @staticmethod
-    def verify_vote_signature(voters, signed_vote):
+    def verify_vote(voters, signed_vote):
         """Verify the signature of a vote.
 
         Refer to the documentation of
         :func:`bigchaindb.util.verify_signature`.
         """
-        return verify_vote_signature(voters, signed_vote)
+        try:
+            validate_vote_schema(signed_vote)
+        except SchemaValidationError:
+            # TODO: log this.
+            return False
+        else:
+            return verify_vote_signature(voters, signed_vote)
diff --git a/bigchaindb/core.py b/bigchaindb/core.py
index 34dbab84..b59f4ebd 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/core.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/core.py
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ class Bigchain(object):
         prev_block = [vote['vote']['previous_block'] for vote in votes]
         # vote_validity checks whether a vote is valid
         # or invalid, e.g. [False, True, True]
-        vote_validity = [self.consensus.verify_vote_signature(voters, vote) for vote in votes]
+        vote_validity = [self.consensus.verify_vote(voters, vote) for vote in votes]
 
         # element-wise product of stated vote and validity of vote
         # vote_cast = [True, True, False] and
diff --git a/tests/pipelines/test_vote.py b/tests/pipelines/test_vote.py
index edbc5f4c..227a23a2 100644
--- a/tests/pipelines/test_vote.py
+++ b/tests/pipelines/test_vote.py
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ def dummy_block(b):
     return block
 
 
+DUMMY_SHA3 = '0123456789abcdef' * 4
+
+
 def test_vote_creation_valid(b):
     from bigchaindb.common import crypto
     from bigchaindb.common.util import serialize
@@ -24,11 +27,11 @@ def test_vote_creation_valid(b):
     # create valid block
     block = dummy_block(b)
     # retrieve vote
-    vote = b.vote(block.id, 'abc', True)
+    vote = b.vote(block.id, DUMMY_SHA3, True)
 
     # assert vote is correct
     assert vote['vote']['voting_for_block'] == block.id
-    assert vote['vote']['previous_block'] == 'abc'
+    assert vote['vote']['previous_block'] == DUMMY_SHA3
     assert vote['vote']['is_block_valid'] is True
     assert vote['vote']['invalid_reason'] is None
     assert vote['node_pubkey'] == b.me
@@ -44,11 +47,11 @@ def test_vote_creation_invalid(b):
     # create valid block
     block = dummy_block(b)
     # retrieve vote
-    vote = b.vote(block.id, 'abc', False)
+    vote = b.vote(block.id, DUMMY_SHA3, False)
 
     # assert vote is correct
     assert vote['vote']['voting_for_block'] == block.id
-    assert vote['vote']['previous_block'] == 'abc'
+    assert vote['vote']['previous_block'] == DUMMY_SHA3
     assert vote['vote']['is_block_valid'] is False
     assert vote['vote']['invalid_reason'] is None
     assert vote['node_pubkey'] == b.me