# Claim voting process

Every user can see active Claims in the Claims Assessment tab of the app, and they can open the Claims to see the evidence uploaded by the Claimant.

* Votes are anonymous.
* In order to vote, Users have to stake native BMI tokens, receive stkBMI in return, and lock them in the voting contract.
* <mark style="color:blue;">**Voters need to confirm their vote in the second phase of voting or will suffer a penalty.**</mark>
* Voters may vote on multiple Claims before submitting all of them in a batch send. This is to save time and gas fees.
* Votes are weighted based on the voter's Voting Power - it also determines the number of rewards and penalties received.
* Users, to vote, have to receive their reputation and BMI/USDT rewards from all previous votes first (including penalties).



## **What are the phases of voting?**

The first phase lasts 7 days. This is the phase in which users can add their votes to accept or reject the claim after reviewing the content and evidence presented, supported by their own research. The second phase is the exposure phase which also lasts 7 days. New votes are not accepted during the exposure phase, and users who voted in the first phase must confirm their votes. They'll suffer a 100% penalty for their staked BMI position per missed vote confirmation if they fail to do so.\
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After 2 weeks, the claimant is allowed to reveal the result of the vote for which they have 4 days.

## **What is stkBMI?**

After you stake BMI in the Staking Contract, you obtain stkBMI. These are proof of your position in the native BMI staking pool. They can be further staked in the voting process to vote on claims.

## **Where can I stake?**

To stake native BMI tokens head over to [https://app.bridgemutual.io/user/stake-bmi](https://app.bridgemutual.io/user/stake-bmi)\
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stkBMI staking is handled in [https://app.bridgemutual.io/user/claims-assessment](https://app.bridgemutual.io/user/claims-assessment)

## How can I unstake my stkBMIs?

Unstaking stkBMIs in handled in [https://app.bridgemutual.io/user/claims-assessment](https://app.bridgemutual.io/user/claims-assessment).\
Please note that you cannot unstake stkBMIs when either:

* A claim you've voted on hasn't been resolved yet.
* You have pending rewards or penalties.

## **Where can I vote?**

Head over to [https://app.bridgemutual.io/user/claims-assessment](https://app.bridgemutual.io/user/claims-assessment)

## **Do I get rewards for voting?**

Yes. You can read more on the rewards in the next gitbook section:

{% content-ref url="reputation-and-reward-system" %}
[reputation-and-reward-system](reputation-and-reward-system)
{% endcontent-ref %}

## **Which claims are honored?**

A Claim requires a 66% majority to be passed; otherwise, the claim is rejected.\
On top of that, for the voting to be valid (either approved or denied), there have to be at least 10% of total stkBMIs staked participating in the voting process.

## **My claim was approved. How is my final payout determined?**

When the voting is over, the final amount awarded to the Claimant is decided by the weighted average of the stkBMI tokens and what they voted for.

## **My claim was rejected. What now?**

You can still appeal. To do so, you must deposit an additional 1% of the claim's value. The difference between regular claims and Appeals is that only “Trusted Voters” may vote on Appeals. You can read more on Appeals and Trusted Voters [in our Whitepaper](https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5fac3e348dbd5932a7578690/60dc8cf46c5b275d188ec7b1_Bridge-new-wp.pdf).

## What is stopping voters from fraudulently denying a valid claim?

There are multiple incentives and punishment measures within our multi-phase voting system that encourage users to vote fairly and honestly by aligning their incentives with the claimant. Only users who vote in the majority are rewarded with BMI and USDTs for voting.&#x20;

Users who vote in the minority can be punished by losing a portion of their reputation, decreasing their voting power.&#x20;

Users who vote in the minority when there is a large discrepancy (for example, 90% of voters approve a claim while only 10% of voters deny it) will have a portion of their stake confiscated and added to the Reinsurance pool.

## **Can the Bridge Mutual team influence voting?**

No, the only people who participate in voting are stkBMI stakers. No one else can affect the outcome of a vote.



