Protesters march through the Country Club Plaza shopping district during a “No Kings” protest, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Charlie Riedel/AP
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Charlie Riedel/AP
No Kings, the coalition known for organizing anti-Trump protests, is trying a different Democratic tactic: increasing voter turnout.
On Saturday, grassroots groups across the country will organize more than 3,000 marches and other “No Kings: Vote Early” events. Organizers say the events are a nonpartisan effort to promote early voting in the midterm elections and will focus on helping people check their voter registration, make a plan to vote and understand their voting rights.
The get-out-the-vote effort marks a turning point for the No Kings coalition, which includes hundreds of partner organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Black Voters Matter.
No Kings has already held three days of nationwide protests since the start of Trump’s second term, as organizers say Trump’s actions in office are more akin to those of a monarch than a democratically elected head of state. Trump has already rejected the idea that he is behaving like a monarch.
“The first three No Kings were designed to send a message,” says Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the main organizations in the No Kings network. “We have finished sending a message.”
Now, he says, they want people to vote.
There are two main goals for the event, Levin says, the first is to help facilitate what he hopes will be the largest number of midterm early votes in the country’s history.
The second goal is for No Kings groups to train volunteers to become election observers, an effort that Levin says is a response to efforts by the Trump administration that he sees as threats to election integrity. Levin points to the failure of the SAVE America Act, which would have required voters to present a document proving their U.S. citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, when registering to vote. He also worries about federal immigration agents being sent to the polls and President Trump’s attempts to restrict mail-in voting.
What are national organizers expecting?
Saturday events vary widely across the country, from block parties to meals to gatherings. In Golden, Colorado, a “Paws to the Polls” event invites people to bring their dogs to a walk. Organizers in Everett, Washington, planned a “concert for democracy,” featuring an environmental troubadour.
All events will share similar restrictions, Levin says, including a rule banning political endorsements and inviting current candidates to speak.
Superhero capes and masks will be a staple at Cammy Dunford’s event in Frisco, Texas. Dunford, co-leader of Indivisible Frisco, plans to hold a “voting is your superpower” rally. She will wear a red and blue cape (to embrace the political spectrum of voters) and offer other superhero capes and masks.
“I don’t care if you’re an independent voter, Democrat or Republican,” Dunford says, “if you’re eligible to vote, you need to get out there and vote. Because without everyone voting, we don’t have a democracy.”
Early voting in Texas doesn’t begin until Oct. 19, but Dunford and a group of his neighbors prepared 500 mini goody bags to hand out, filled with QR codes linking to voting information and voting resources. They will also hold up illuminated signs with superhero-shaped images inviting people passing by in cars to vote.
Dunford says his group already has two people trained as election observers and hopes to recruit more Saturday. She says election observers are trained by Common Cause, a government watchdog group that equips them to answer voters’ questions. They wear T-shirts that identify them at the polls, she said, so voters can find them and ask questions.
At an event in Wyandotte, Michigan, Christy McGillivray, executive director of Voters Not Politicians, a nonpartisan advocacy organization, is scheduled to speak to an audience of No Kings about the history of the fight for democracy in the United States. She says organizing grassroots events across the country is inspiring.
“It makes people feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves,” she says. “And that’s democracy. Democracy is working with each other and for each other.”
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