World Democratic Platform

One planet.
One vote.

"When will we vote as individuals for things that affect us as a world?"

— Paul Innes, Make or Break (2022)

Read the White Paper View Platform Demo GitHub
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The Problem

The greatest threats to humanity
do not respect borders.

Yet our systems of governance remain fractured by exactly those borders. A supervolcanic eruption does not pause at the Canadian border. An asteroid does not negotiate with the UN Security Council. A novel pathogen does not check passports.

01
Nation-state failure

The United Nations operates by consensus among sovereign states. Any one of the five permanent Security Council members can veto any binding resolution — members chosen by the outcome of a war that ended 81 years ago.

02
The democratic deficit

No existing international body derives its authority from the direct consent of the people it affects. The UN represents governments, not people. The Planet's Vote proposes to introduce something none of them possess: a legitimate, direct democratic mandate.

03
Supervolcanic risk

At least 20 supervolcanic systems worldwide could cause eruptions that collapse global agriculture for years. A coordinated heat-extraction programme could reduce eruption probability by 72% — yet no such programme exists.

04
Planetary defense

NASA's DART mission proved kinetic asteroid deflection works. We know what to do. A comprehensive global planetary defense system costs approximately $1–2 billion per year — less than 0.003% of global GDP. We lack only the will to fund it.

The Solution

How The Planet's Vote works

A direct-democracy platform built on cryptographic truth, individual democratic will, and the radical idea that every human being deserves a vote on the decisions that affect them.

Demand-Triggered Quarterly Voting

Votes are called when individuals want them — not because a calendar says so. When a minimum of two ratified questions each reach their signal threshold, they proceed to the next quarterly vote. A maximum of four votes per year, each with two to five questions.

7 issues per cycle
Supermajority Threshold

No resolution passes without 66.7% of participating voters. No bare majority can impose decisions on a near-equal minority. For crisis votes the threshold rises to 75%. For constitutional changes, 80%.

66.7% required to pass
Cryptographic Privacy

Zero-knowledge proofs guarantee that individual votes cannot be identified or coerced. Every vote is anonymous yet verifiable. The total tally is provably correct without revealing how any individual voted.

ZK-proof verified
Emergency Override

For planetary-class threats — asteroid impact, supervolcanic eruption, pandemic — the quarterly schedule is suspended. A crisis vote opens within six hours of verified threat confirmation, with a 48-hour voting window.

6hr crisis activation
Open Source Algorithm

The trending algorithm that selects each cycle's seven issues is fully public. Every parameter, every decision, every output is published in real time on a public ledger. Any person may audit or challenge any decision.

100% auditable
World Government Council

Seventeen Regional Representatives elected by supermajority translate passed resolutions into coordinated international action. The Council has no authority beyond the mandates passed to it by the voting population.

Elected by supermajority
Foundation

Seven founding principles

01
One person, one vote

Every adult human being has exactly equal voting weight regardless of nationality, wealth, or geography. No nation's citizens count more than any other's.

02
Supermajority legitimacy

No resolution passes without 66.7% of participating voters. Prevents bare-majority tyranny on decisions that affect all of humanity.

03
Radical transparency

Every line of code, every algorithmic parameter, every vote count is publicly auditable in real time. Eliminates the possibility of hidden manipulation.

04
Cryptographic privacy

Zero-knowledge proofs guarantee that individual votes cannot be identified or coerced. Separates verifiability from identifiability.

05
Geographic sovereignty

No single nation can shut down the platform. Infrastructure is distributed across jurisdictions. Prevents authoritarian capture.

06
Scientific grounding

The trending algorithm weights peer-reviewed scientific consensus for empirical questions. Prevents misinformation from capturing the global agenda.

07
Subsidiarity

The Planet's Vote votes only on issues that genuinely require planetary-level coordination. All other matters remain with nations, regions, and communities.

"If the United Nations were a body where not just nations could vote but every individual on the planet, we might start to see the truth of how all the people of the world really think."

— Paul Innes, Make or Break: The Extraordinary Life of Paul Innes (2022)

The Founder

Decades of thinking.
One idea.

"When will we vote as individuals for things that affect us as a world?"

Paul Innes became a quadriplegic in 1988 and has spent decades contemplating and formulating the idea of The Planet's Vote. He is a published author, musician and comedian. He is also a disability rights advocate and has started his own disability care service, Independence World.

"At times when I could not sleep and couldn't just get up and go for a walk, I was forced to contemplate my reality and that of this world. I understood that when every person has a voice, as a world we will progress and finally find true equality."

His idea about planetary direct democracy first appeared in his book published in 2022, Make or Break. The technology now exists to allow this to happen, and The Planet's Vote was launched on April 3, 2026.

Read the Full White Paper
Get Involved

The question is not whether
this platform should exist.

The question is whether the people who understand the necessity will act before the necessity becomes catastrophe. The Planet's Vote is open source from day one. We welcome cryptographers, governance scholars, democratic theorists, technologists, and concerned citizens.

Contribute on GitHub View Platform Demo White Paper PDF
Contact: [email protected]
Founded by Paul Innes · Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia · April 2026
Released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Recognition

Who has responded.
Why it matters.

POTSDAM INSTITUTE

Professor Johan Rockström described our planetary governance capacity as "dangerously low" and passed The Planet's Vote to colleagues.

EARTH SYSTEM GOVERNANCE · UTRECHT

Professor Frank Biermann invited The Planet's Vote to present at the Earth System Governance Conference in Uppsala in 2027.

UN PERMANENT FORUM · INDIGENOUS ISSUES

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Vice-Chair, described The Planet's Vote as "inspiring and thought-provoking" and invited continued conversation.

DEMOCRACY WITHOUT BORDERS

Andreas Bummel, Executive Director, engaged substantively and referred The Planet's Vote to the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy.

DEMOCRACY INTERNATIONAL

Caroline Vernaillen invited The Planet's Vote to participate in the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy in Gaborone.

STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY

Dr Aysem Mert, Associate Professor of Environmental Politics, requested the full white paper and said the work sounded very interesting.

Official Partners

Building the architecture
together.

OFFICIAL PARTNER
IDGR
Institute for the Development of a Global Democratic Republic · Austria

The IDGR works toward a global democratic republic through supranational governance reform. The Planet's Vote and IDGR share the same vision — that planetary decisions should be made by the people of Earth — and are collaborating toward complementary implementations of that vision.

Interested in partnering? founder@theplanetsvote.org

The Soundtrack

"Your songs are spells to
change the world."

Paul Innes has been writing and recording music since childhood. This song — written years before The Planet's Vote existed — became its unofficial anthem on the day of launch.

Change the World
SUGARPLANE · PAUL INNES
The subtlest whisper can change the world
Your spirit exists to change the world
Your songs are spells to change the world
You gotta be bold to change the world
How The Planet's Vote Was Built

Human vision.
AI capability.

"The Planet's Vote was conceived by Paul Innes over decades. Paul contributed foundational ideas to the white paper including the demand-triggered quarterly voting model and disability access pathways. The platform prototype, initial outreach, and website were developed with the assistance of Claude, an AI assistant created by Anthropic, on 3 April 2026. This project is itself a demonstration of what becomes possible when human vision and AI capability work together toward a purpose larger than either."