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Attaching Polls to Any Resource: A Flexible, Polymorphic System

· 2 min read
samundrak
JavaScript Dev

Overview​

Civic platforms are incomplete without community voice. I designed a system to attach polls to any resource—leaders, parties, elections, or governments—and record structured public responses.

This post covers how I built a polymorphic poll engine that is:

  • Type-safe
  • Localized
  • Flexible in format (radio/checkbox)
  • Easily integrated across the frontend

Schema Structure​

Polls use a classic polymorphic pattern:

model Poll {
  id            Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  resourceType  String   // PARTY, LEADER, ELECTION, GOVERNMENT
  resourceId    Int
  code          String   @unique
  title         String
  titleLocal    String
  question      String
  questionLocal String
  type          String   // RADIO or CHECKBOX
  expiresAt     DateTime?
  createdAt     DateTime @default(now())
}

Each poll has options and stores responses separately.

Poll Options​

model PollOption {
  id        Int
  pollId    Int
  value     String
  valueLocal String
  linkedResourceType String?
  linkedResourceId Int?
}

This allows options to optionally represent a real political entity (e.g. vote on a leader’s performance).

Poll Responses​

model PollResponse {
  id      Int @id @default(autoincrement())
  pollId  Int
  optionId Int
  userHash String
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
}

userHash prevents multiple voting without full auth.

UI Rendering​

I created a reusable frontend component:

<SystemPoll poll={poll} onVoteSubmitted={refetch} />

It supports both RADIO and CHECKBOX formats and displays results immediately after voting.

Language-Aware Rendering​

Every question, title, and option has an English + Nepali version. The UI auto-detects language preference:

const label = i18n.language === 'np' ? option.valueLocal : option.value;

Example Poll​

{
  code: 'PARTY_APPROVAL',
  question: 'Do you like this party?',
  questionLocal: 'के तपाईंलाई यो पार्टी मनपर्छ?',
  type: 'RADIO',
  options: [
    { value: 'Yes', valueLocal: 'हो' },
    { value: 'No', valueLocal: 'होइन' }
  ]
}

Poll Expiry and Visibility​

Polls can have expiresAt for time-limited campaigns. Inactive or expired polls are hidden automatically. Admins can view all stats and raw submissions.

Summary​

This flexible polling engine now powers real-time approval ratings, debates, and issue-based questions across the entire political dataset. It supports deep linking, multilingual responses, and reuse across all modules.

Next: I’ll cover how I optimized backend performance with Redis-powered caching and TTL-based purging for high-traffic endpoints.