Beyond State Control: Citizen-Run Elections enabled by the release of Rarimo's Freedom Tool

LONDON, Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rarimo has released Freedom Tool, an open-source software for running anonymized elections and polls. It has solved the long-standing technical challenge of enabling digital identity checks while also protecting citizens from tracking. It aims to shift power to the public by facilitating voting systems outside of state apparatus. This will help give a voice to silenced people around the world.

Freedom Tool was built with a combination of zero-knowledge and blockchain technology.

Why Freedom Tool is so Urgently Needed 

2024 is the biggest election year in history. Over 64 countries will head to the polls, but in many of these countries, there will be electoral fraud, voter intimidation, and control over the ballot. In Russia, opposition candidates have been barred from running. In Belarus, the election will unfold in the shadow of 2020's rigging. In numerous places, minority groups will be excluded from voting.

With Freedom Tool, anyone in any part of the world can build voting apps that are immune to interference and act as safe outlets for citizens to express dissent.

Lasha Antadze, co-founder of Rarilabs, a company advancing Rarimo said, "Freedom Tool will soon be used on the ground. I believe it is a continuation of Satoshi's original promise to place power into the hands of the people. Blockchain's journey began with separating money and state, and we aim to extend this principle to identity, which is equally essential for individual liberty in our era."

How Freedom Tool Works

With Freedom Tool, citizens prove their eligibility by scanning their biometric passports with their phones. The data on the biometric chip inside the passport is verified, and upon confirming authenticity, an anonymous voting pass is issued. The citizen then uses this pass to cast their vote.

Zero-knowledge cryptography is used to sever any link between the voting pass and the passport data so that the two cannot be paired. When the ID and the voting pass cannot be paired, neither can the citizen and their vote.

The passport data never leaves the mobile device used for scanning. This means that the data never passes through a server and that there are no points where it could be intercepted.

As well as protecting citizens from surveillance, Freedom Tool uses blockchain to protect votes from rigging. All votes are published directly onto the blockchain where they are both tamper-proof and publicly auditable.

The election ballots run as smart contracts on the blockchain where the criteria around who can vote and on what subject can be pre-defined. The ballots can be submitted by anyone onto a network but require a support threshold to become active.

A more detailed technical description can be found in the White Paper and a demo of Freedom Tool can be downloaded here.

About Rarimo

Rarimo protocol is a decentralized digital identity protocol. The largest network for identity access and verification, it utilizes zero-knowledge proofs to enable user interactions that are both seamless and privacy-protecting.

About Rarilabs

Rarilabs (formerly Rarify Labs) is a service provider devoted to advancing Rarimo. In 2022, Rarilabs received US$10 million in a Series A funding round from Pantera Capital at a $100 million valuation.