Show up in person
A local committee reviews the person and any evidence required under the applicable local rules. Government ID may be one pathway, but it is not the only possible pathway.
How it works
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Three steps to verified, local trust
Receive your credential
If the committee agrees that the photo matches the person, the participant receives a portable credential they control. The credential is not issued or controlled by a company or government.
Renew every 45 days
Every attestation expires after 45 days. A randomly assigned community peer group reviews renewal. The exact group size, signature thresholds, appeals, and recovery rules remain unfinished.
See the complete proposed lifecycle—from accepted evidence and committee approval to universal 45-day expiry, random peer renewal, and recovery after expiry.
Explore the verification process Read the privacy commitments
From proof of human to checks on power
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Government does not issue the trust. It is one of the powers the public can check.
Checks and Balances Committee establishes recurring, community-attested proof that participants are real. Rate My Representatives is the connected civic-accountability platform being built to apply that trust layer to representatives, public records, evidence, citizen evaluations, and official responses.
Verify the participant
Confirm that a real person appeared, matched the credential photo, and completed the applicable local process.
Clarify the public signal
Distinguish current verified participants from bots, duplicate accounts, and unauthenticated online volume.
Check the representative
Connect public participation with representative records, supporting evidence, official responses, corrections, and documented outcomes.
The protocol verifies the people participating in accountability. Rate My Representatives provides the place where that accountability becomes visible.
How Verification Works See How We Check Power
Rate My Representatives is a connected project. Credential integration is planned and is not yet operational.
Find a committee
Pilot phase — British Columbia and select jurisdictions first
The directory is not live yet. The British Columbia pilot is forming, and there are no open verification sessions at this time.
We will publish availability only after local committees, privacy rules, and scheduling safeguards are ready.
Check committee availability Start one where you live
No identity documents are collected on this page.
Start or join
Help bring Checks and Balances to your community
Review the responsibilities, safeguards, and unfinished formation work before organizing locally.
Start a committee See what verification enables Build with the protocol
Sensitive identity documents are handled in person at a scheduled session, never on this site.
Primary connected application
Rate My Representatives
Rate My Representatives is a connected public-accountability project being built to combine representative profiles, public records, evidence-linked participation, official responses, and documented outcomes with the Checks and Balances trust layer.
Connected project — verification integration planned
Explore Rate My Representatives ↗ See How We Check Power
Additional applicationsPortable proof of human can also support civic participation, accountable applications, community platforms, and human-directed agents without making each service the owner of a person’s identity.
- Petitions
- Public comment
- Member votes
- Local job boards
- Mutual-aid systems
- Civic platforms
- Cooperatives
- Accountable applications
- Human-directed agents
Foundations and roadmap
Local proof is the first layer of a wider civic vision.
Explore the principles behind CBC, Direct Republic, Mirror-State, and Civic SOUL as foundations and roadmap concepts—not as current lifecycle steps.
Policy and record
Read the safeguards and the history.
Privacy and evidence rules remain unfinished. Historical materials are preserved as context and are not presented as independently validated facts.
FAQ
Common questions
Does this prove that I live in a particular jurisdiction?
Not automatically. The baseline attestation establishes that a real person appeared and matched the credential photo under the applicable process. A declared or document-supported local connection must be separately defined and labelled. It should not be described as legal proof of residence unless the adopted rules support that claim.
Does verified participation prove what the whole community thinks?
No. It can make participation harder to manufacture by distinguishing current verified participants from anonymous or duplicate activity. A claim about broader community opinion still requires a disclosed sample size, relevant population, participation rate, locality rules, and methodology.
Does Checks and Balances Committee rate representatives?
No. Checks and Balances Committee establishes the verification and trust layer. Rate My Representatives is the connected public-accountability project being built to organize representative profiles, public records, evidence-linked evaluations, official responses, corrections, and outcomes.
Is Rate My Representatives already using Checks and Balances credentials?
Not yet. Rate My Representatives is a connected project, but credential APIs, relying-party rules, and technical integration remain planned rather than operational.
Can a verification committee reject someone because of their political opinions?
No. A committee’s role is to apply the verification process impartially. It does not decide how a verified participant must vote, speak, or evaluate a representative.
Does a verified credential prove that everything a person says is true?
No. Verification establishes who is participating and whether the credential is current. Factual claims still require evidence, source review, corrections, and fair process.
Is this a government ID?
No. This is a community credential issued by a local volunteer committee. It is portable and can be used by platforms that choose to accept it.
Who sees my identity documents?
Only the local committee sees them, in person, during a scheduled session. We do not collect or store them on this website.
Why 45 days?
The 45-day balance means the community regularly re-checks the original check. It keeps the credential current and the process accountable.
Can a platform use this instead of its own verification?
Yes. Any platform, union, co-op, or civic tool can accept the credential as one proof among many. It is voluntary and interoperable.