diff --git a/nano/secure/common.cpp b/nano/secure/common.cpp
index 3ee58c9d..89b8a2b9 100644
--- a/nano/secure/common.cpp
+++ b/nano/secure/common.cpp
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ void nano::vote::serialize (nano::stream & stream_a) const
 
 bool nano::vote::deserialize (nano::stream & stream_a)
 {
-	auto result = false;
+	auto error = false;
 	try
 	{
 		nano::read (stream_a, account.bytes);
@@ -607,9 +607,9 @@ bool nano::vote::deserialize (nano::stream & stream_a)
 	}
 	catch (std::runtime_error const &)
 	{
-		result = true;
+		error = true;
 	}
-	return result;
+	return error;
 }
 
 bool nano::vote::validate () const
diff --git a/nano/secure/common.hpp b/nano/secure/common.hpp
index cc3d9c58..879b55d8 100644
--- a/nano/secure/common.hpp
+++ b/nano/secure/common.hpp
@@ -267,6 +267,10 @@ public:
 	bool operator!= (nano::vote const &) const;
 	void serialize (nano::stream &) const;
 	void serialize_json (boost::property_tree::ptree & tree) const;
+	/**
+	 * Deserializes a vote from the bytes in `stream'
+	 * Returns true if there was an error
+	 */
 	bool deserialize (nano::stream &);
 	bool validate () const;
 	boost::transform_iterator<nano::iterate_vote_blocks_as_hash, nano::vote_blocks_vec_iter> begin () const;