There’s a voice in every vote.
A Call for Code for Racial Justice solution aims to dismantle voter suppression
True democracy is paramount to maintaining a free and fair society; one that many countries claim to embody. But there’s a difference between what is on paper and what is actually practiced, and when it comes to accounting for all the votes that pour in during the period of highly critical decisions that shape a country, such as elections, it can be argued that not all voices are heard equally, if at all.
In some situations, the concept of voting can be seen as being unfair due to restrictive local processes, changing requirements, regulations, an inability to access the correct voting location, and a lack of information. These obstacles pose as barriers for millions of minorities, especially Black people, which in turn can result in their votes going uncounted, purged, or simply not submitted due to the lack of faith and trust in the system. Behind every vote is a voice that is expressing their perspective, life experiences, and desires through the completion of a ballot, and every voice needs to be heard.
In support of Call for Code for Racial Justice, a team of technologists built a one-stop solution for minority communities to feel informed and assured that their voice is being heard: Five Fifths Voter. Five Fifths Voter helps to identify correct polling stations, notifies users of requirements needed for their area as it pertains to various types of voting, deadlines, and quick access to information.
The team is made up of the following individuals:
- Alexandria Leggett Product Offering Manager & Creative Director
- Andrea Lucas Product Offering Manager & Technical Director
- Yolanda Rabun Lead Generalist
- Denise Knorr Operations Director
- Evelyn R. Anderson Sr. Security & IP Advisor
- Sebastian Huynh Lead Designer
- David Nixon Developer
- Gerald Mitchell Developer
- Syd Bailey Developer
- Ann Umberhocker Developer
- Shrey Anand Developer
- Alexandra Devine Designer & IP Strategist
- Dylan Zucker Data Scientist
- Kristen Ray Data Scientist
- Chris Stefano Generalist
- Ricky Ellison Generalist
- Mike Boone Sr. Security & IP Advisor
all of whom were all inspired to use #TechforGood. Call for Code Digest was able to catch up with a few team members to learn more about their motivations for contributing to Call for Code for Racial Justice:
1.What was your motivation for getting involved in Call for Code for Racial Justice?
Alexandria Leggett: My journey with Call for Code actually began through a proposal I wrote to IBM corporate in 2020 of initiative action ideas for our budding racial justice movement. As one of the proposed initiatives, I delineated a Call for Code effort that could be geared towards tackling issues such as disparities in access to Healthcare, Finance, Food Quality, and Environmental expectations. It was from that proposal that I realized just how special and quite fascinating this organization is. I’d had a prior presumption that I could only be directly involved in CFC as a developer, but in actuality, was able to apply my operational and personal skills to a Project Management role-and to the issue of voter disenfranchisement at that. I have always been driven by people and connection to all facets of the human experience — wearing different lenses to better understand variant perceptions and views of life. Five/Fifths Voter breathes accessibility and equality into a voting process that has been somewhat nebulous for decades and was created to mitigate unfair disadvantages particularly for citizens in underserved communities. What motivates me is being able to see how we can apply these technologies to actionable change that can impact the equality, efficiency, and accessibility of voting to generate a differentiating, problem solving, and essential “new normal” within the process. Our aspiration is to create a seamless solution for all people to be able to use our platform and see firsthand how powerful their voices truly are individually and collectively. Our 3 Pillars are: EDUCATE, ENABLE, & EMPOWER.
Andrea Lucas: I was hurt and angry by the violent injustices that occurred against fellow black Americans in 2020 — George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the list goes on. That could have been my brother or sister or my 23 year old daughter. I figure the best way for me to channel my emotions was to take action and get involved.
I saw the Call for Code for Racial justice as an opportunity for me to do that.
2.Why is racial injustice an issue that can be addressed by the tech community, and why is now the time to do so?
Boz Handy Bosma: Open source technology and the open source community can have a huge impact in delivering on the goal of ending systemic racism. Five Fifths Voter and the other CFCFRJ projects show how technology can directly solve specific problems like voter suppression. Government is responsive when it can be held accountable. Technology provides many ways of exposing and countering voter suppression, by giving proof where it happens and helping people to exercise their right to vote. In practical terms, by making open source repos available for customization, the open source community can scale up contributions and provide technologies adapted to local situations and local and state voting laws. It’s hard to imagine the end of racial injustice if Black and Brown people don’t have full access to the vote.
3. Who can you see benefiting from your solution and how?
Alexandra Devine: Race, and racial injustice for that matter, are subjects that I think many tech companies have not previously dedicated a lot of resources to. Tech companies have the capability, and often the responsibility, to address racial injustice. For one, racial biases influence and permeate throughout technology that is used today, such as AI technology and search algorithms. It is tech companies’ responsibility to correct their implicit biases. Tech companies are also unique because they often host people with diverse, vast, and tailored skills who have the capability to create technology that assists in dismantling racism.
Our solution, while aimed at minority voters, can benefit all voters in the U.S. The intent of Five Fifths Voter is to help voters take a hold of their constitutional right to vote and assist voters who may run into the most trouble while voting.
Boz Handy Bosma: Everyone benefits when people are able to exercise their right to vote without interference. While Black and Brown people are the primary targets of voter suppression, all of society is hurt when groups face injustices. As Martin Luther King, Jr. put it, “No one is free until we are all free.” Economic equity and a functioning society demand an end to voter suppression.
4. What would you say to fellow technologists around the world who may be interested in contributing to CFCFRJ?
Boz Handy Bosma: Contributing to CFCFRJ has been the highlight of my career. When badly designed, technology can cover up or create injustices. When designed well, technology can help society to deliver on the dream of ending systemic racism, systemic gender inequities, and similar injustices. These injustices exist in many countries. We can fix them. During my time with CFCFRJ, I’ve met people from all over the world who want to help. I’ve made lifelong friends. Open source focused on delivering racial justice is one of the biggest opportunities in the world, and you can play your part and learn as you go.
5. Are there any key learnings you have had from developing the solution to this point? (Could be technology-related, ways of working, platform-specific)
Denise Knorr: A key learning is how critical it is to have a solid future vision for how the solution can benefit users…that helps to scope the development effort properly so you can have quality POC functionality that can be easily built out for more robust functionality as many open source developers will want to do.
6. Which components of the solution do you think developers can help in further improving your solution?
Ann Umberhocker: We need help with a thorough testing strategy, data scraping, text translation enablement, and adding new features like Poll Location rating.
Alexandria Leggett: At the heart of many voter suppression issues is learned and ingrained behavior. I truly believe we can leverage cognitive technology to help tackle systemic racism with systemic and systematic solutions that use knowledge and access as tools. Through AI, we can learn more about each other and idiosyncrasies of end users to simplify processes. Through machine learning, we can tell our stories, teach our stories, and tackle biases. Digital tech in general has taken on a human-centric undertone, and it has begun to unite all walks of life — regardless of age, race, belief system or backgrounds. Voting made history this past year by doing the same; with Five/Fifths Voter, we aspire to elevate that on a large scale- by not just inspiring the individual, but inspiring unity through empowerment.
Feeling inspired? Five Fifths Voter and other open source projects that address racial injustice are looking for your help. Do your part and advance the vision of using technology to help combat systemic racism. Act now: Get involved in the Five Fifths Voter project or learn more about Call for Code for Racial Justice.
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