AI Technology Brings Son Back To Life in Plea to Cast Election Vote He Never Can

After the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018, parents Manuel and Patricia Oliver launched Change the Ref in memory of their son Joaquin and his 16 peers that senselessly lost their lives. Change The Ref (CTR), was formed to empower our Future Leaders, giving young people the tools they need to be empowered to make changes to critical issues that affect our nation, through education, conversation, and activism.

With the 2020 election looming, Change the Ref has launched an initiative to encourage young people to get out the vote. ‘The Unfinished Votes’ leverages AI technology to bring Joaquin back to life digitally to ask people to ‘finish’ the vote he was never able to cast, as this would have marked Joaquin’s first vote in a presidential election. In the launch film for the campaign, Manuel and Patricia, alongside their late son, recruit voters to replace the ballots of gun violence victims by heading to unfinishedvotes.com.

Learn more about Unfinished Votes here.

Learn more about Change the Ref here.