diff --git a/backend/src/rooms/room.js b/backend/src/rooms/room.js
index e9b3f9d..9776070 100644
--- a/backend/src/rooms/room.js
+++ b/backend/src/rooms/room.js
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
 // the same round-session engine (game/session.js) up to 5 times in a
 // row, picking a random theme per match (excluding the previous
 // match's theme) unless the creator asked for `themeMode: 'chosen'`,
-// in which case real theme voting is ticket #7 — this ticket only
-// wires a narrow, synchronous stand-in (see resolveChosenTheme below).
+// in which case a 10-second theme vote (rooms/themeVote.js, see
+// PROTOCOL.md "Theme voting") settles match 1's theme once; every
+// later match in the series reuses that same voted theme (see
+// resolveChosenTheme below).
 //
 // Rooms never import or touch matchmaking's ban store: quitting a
 // private room carries no penalty, unlike quitting a matchmaking match.
@@ -13,6 +15,7 @@ import { registerHandler, onDisconnect } from '../ws/connectionHandler.js';
 import { getPlayerId, getPlayerName, sendTo } from '../ws/registry.js';
 import { createSession } from '../game/session.js';
 import { pickRandomThemeId } from '../themeIds.js';
+import { startVote } from './themeVote.js';
 
 const MAX_MATCHES = 5;
 const CODE_MIN = 100000;
@@ -77,15 +80,24 @@ function closeRoom(room, reason, quitterId) {
 }
 
 /**
- * `themeMode: 'chosen'` theme resolution is not implemented by this
- * ticket (#6) — real theme voting (`vote:start`/`vote:cast`/
- * `vote:settled`) is ticket #7. This is a narrow, synchronous stand-in
- * so #7 has an obvious integration point without this ticket blocking
- * on it: swap this function's body for the real voting flow.
+ * `themeMode: 'chosen'` theme resolution: runs the real theme vote
+ * (rooms/themeVote.js) for match 1 only. PROTOCOL.md "Theme voting"
+ * says the voted theme is reused for the whole 5-match series, so once
+ * `room.votedThemeId` is set every later startMatch() call short-
+ * circuits straight to it instead of voting again.
  */
 function resolveChosenTheme(room, cb) {
-  // TODO(#7): replace with real theme-voting flow (startVote)
-  cb(pickRandomThemeId());
+  if (room.votedThemeId !== null) {
+    cb(room.votedThemeId);
+    return;
+  }
+  startVote(room, (themeId) => {
+    // The room may have been torn down (e.g. a player disconnected)
+    // while the 10s vote was in flight; don't resurrect it.
+    if (!rooms.has(room.code)) return;
+    room.votedThemeId = themeId;
+    cb(themeId);
+  });
 }
 
 function resolveTheme(room, cb) {
@@ -160,6 +172,7 @@ export function registerRoomHandlers() {
       matchesPlayed: 0,
       previousThemeId: null,
       currentThemeId: null,
+      votedThemeId: null,
       session: null,
     };
     rooms.set(code, room);
diff --git a/backend/src/rooms/themeVote.js b/backend/src/rooms/themeVote.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ce15a41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/rooms/themeVote.js
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+// Theme voting for `themeMode: 'chosen'` private rooms (see
+// PROTOCOL.md "Theme voting"): a single 10-second, server-timed vote
+// between a room's two players, run once before match 1's
+// `round:start` (room.js reuses the settled theme for matches 2-5).
+//
+// registerHandler() is global and type-keyed (one handler per message
+// type for the whole process, not per-room/per-vote — see
+// game/session.js's identical pattern for round:progress/round:submit),
+// so `vote:cast` looks up which in-progress vote the sending playerId
+// currently belongs to via this module's own playerId -> vote map,
+// populated by startVote() and cleared once the vote settles.
+
+import { registerHandler } from '../ws/connectionHandler.js';
+import { getPlayerId, sendTo } from '../ws/registry.js';
+import { THEME_IDS, pickRandomThemeId } from '../themeIds.js';
+
+const VOTE_DURATION_MS = 10_000;
+
+// playerId -> the in-progress vote both of a room's players belong to.
+const voteByPlayerId = new Map();
+
+function otherPlayer(vote, playerId) {
+  return vote.players[0] === playerId ? vote.players[1] : vote.players[0];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolves a settled vote's final theme per PROTOCOL.md "Theme voting"
+ * Resolution rule: both-agree wins outright; a differing pair splits
+ * uniformly at random; a lone cast vote wins by default; no casts at
+ * all falls back to a uniform random pick so voting can never stall.
+ */
+function resolveOutcome(pickA, pickB) {
+  if (pickA !== undefined && pickB !== undefined) {
+    if (pickA === pickB) return { themeId: pickA, agreed: true };
+    return { themeId: Math.random() < 0.5 ? pickA : pickB, agreed: false };
+  }
+  if (pickA !== undefined) return { themeId: pickA, agreed: false };
+  if (pickB !== undefined) return { themeId: pickB, agreed: false };
+  return { themeId: pickRandomThemeId(), agreed: false };
+}
+
+function settleVote(vote) {
+  if (vote.settled) return;
+  vote.settled = true;
+  for (const id of vote.players) voteByPlayerId.delete(id);
+
+  const [playerA, playerB] = vote.players;
+  const { themeId, agreed } = resolveOutcome(vote.picks.get(playerA), vote.picks.get(playerB));
+
+  for (const id of vote.players) {
+    sendTo(id, { type: 'vote:settled', themeId, agreed });
+  }
+  vote.onSettled(themeId);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Starts a 10-second theme vote between `room.players` (exactly two
+ * playerIds). Calls `onSettled(themeId)` exactly once, at the 10s mark
+ * — never early, even if both players already agree (PROTOCOL.md
+ * "Theme voting": `vote:settled` only fires once `endsAt` elapses).
+ */
+export function startVote(room, onSettled) {
+  const endsAt = Date.now() + VOTE_DURATION_MS;
+  const vote = {
+    players: room.players,
+    picks: new Map(),
+    settled: false,
+    onSettled,
+  };
+  for (const id of vote.players) voteByPlayerId.set(id, vote);
+
+  for (const id of vote.players) {
+    sendTo(id, { type: 'vote:start', themeIds: THEME_IDS, endsAt });
+  }
+
+  setTimeout(() => settleVote(vote), Math.max(0, endsAt - Date.now()));
+}
+
+registerHandler('vote:cast', (socket, message) => {
+  const playerId = getPlayerId(socket);
+  const vote = voteByPlayerId.get(playerId);
+  if (!vote || vote.settled) return;
+
+  const { themeId } = message;
+  if (!THEME_IDS.includes(themeId)) return;
+
+  vote.picks.set(playerId, themeId);
+  sendTo(otherPlayer(vote, playerId), { type: 'vote:opponentChoice', themeId });
+});