Georgia Opposition Party launches United Space, a blockchain-based democracy app ahead of elections

Georgia’s leading opposition party, the United National Movement, has launched United Space, an identity app backed by Rarimo, ahead of the October 26 parliamentary elections.

According to a report on Alexa Blockchain, the app aims to use the blockchain-powered system to combat low voter turnout in Georgia by rewarding citizens for participation regardless of their political stance. If elected, the party wants to use the app to “digitize” the Public Service Hall as a platform to experiment with Universal Basic Income and return the revenues to citizens.

The United Space app, powered by zero-knowledge social protocol Rarimo, wants to implement a liquid democracy model that allows citizens to vote anonymously through the app and be rewarded for their participation.

United Space is actually a modified version of an existing Rarimo ZK proof of citizenship solution called Freedom Tool. What makes Freedom Tool different from other blockchain systems is that it allows users to provide their own identity by uploading their national identity data encrypted to an on-chain ledger.

The app offers a voting system that is free from privacy breach concerns and potential voter manipulations because the blockchain acts as a safeguard against poll tampering.

The system prohibits outside parties, including the government, from monitoring in-app user activities. This level of anonymity is vital given Georgia’s current political climate.

Tensions over this year’s elections are mounting, given that Georgian democracy is slipping back towards authoritarianism and back into Russia’s sphere of influence.

To address the problem of low voter turnout in Georgia, citizens can earn rewards not only for voting but also for other forms of civic engagement. The United Space website offers a program called “Points and Ownership” where citizens can collect points and share in strategic points.

Member of Parliament and leader of the United National Movement Giorgi Vashadze predicts a broad transformation of the democratic system. Not only for Georgia, but also for the rest of the world.

“United Space will help Georgia become one of the most robust democracies in the world. It will provide citizens with unprecedented privacy, access and ease of use when interacting with both the electoral system and daily government services,” Vashadze said.

Rarilabs Director Kitty Horlick said the app directs citizens directly to stakeholders, helping them participate in the democratic process, government assets and public services.