In this episode, Peter dives into an important development for Cardano governance: the release of a new decentralised voting tool by the Cardano Foundation. This open-source platform, accessible at voting.cardanofoundation.org, enables DReps (Delegated Representatives), SPOs (Stake Pool Operators), and Constitutional Committee members to vote on-chain using a streamlined interface.

Critically, the tool supports multisig wallets and stores immutable voting rationales on IPFS via integrations with Endmaker or custom IPFS providers. The release comes at a crucial time, as the existing community-built voting tool, GovTools, is facing funding challenges. GovTools wasn’t included in the latest Intersect budget, leaving its continued development uncertain. A 100k ADA maintenance grant will keep the tool functional for now, but future progress depends on renewed community support.

Peter walks through how the Cardano Foundation’s tool works, outlining the step-by-step process from inputting your DRep ID to signing and submitting your vote. The new interface simplifies rationale submission, removing the need for GitHub uploads and allowing users to use Endmaker API tokens or even custom storage like Iagon.

Crucially, the entire voting tool is open source and can be run locally or on private infrastructure, which ensures the resilience and decentralisation of Cardano governance. If hosted tools like GovTools go offline, users can still vote independently. This tool complements other platforms in the governance ecosystem like Tempo Vote, Governance.space, and the Cardano Forum, but it's one of the few to offer full voting capabilities.

Peter applauds the Cardano Foundation for their contribution to the ecosystem’s decentralisation and encourages the community to explore this new tool to strengthen participation in on-chain governance.