The coalition that has brought millions of Americans to the streets to fight for democracy over the past two years is changing its strategy this weekend.
On Saturday, No Kings organizers and partners will host thousands of events in all 50 states and Washington, DC to get people to the polls early for the U.S. midterm elections. With high-stakes races that will determine control of Congress, organizers say voting before Election Day can ease the burden on election workers and build voter confidence, allowing them to avoid problems like long lines and potential election threats.
Organizers hope to not only make Saturday the largest day of early voting in U.S. history, but also build a network of volunteers ready to defend the results of the Nov. 3 midterm elections — if actors choose to undermine the election results.
“Saturday will be an anti-election sabotage effort,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible, part of the No Kings coalition. “The best thing you can do to combat sabotage is to massively increase voting and do it early. »
From the streets to the polls
No Kings began as a protest movement during Donald Trump’s second presidential term, staging three days of nationwide demonstrations beginning in the summer of 2025 that brought people together to protest the government shutdown, federal layoffs, immigration enforcement, foreign wars, deadly ICE shootings, and military deployments in American cities, among other issues.
Organizers said the protests did what they were designed to do: show that Americans would not quietly give up their rights. And now, ahead of the midterm elections, they plan to put that energy into voting.
“No Kings needs to be more than just bringing people together every other month on a Saturday and marching,” said Hunter Dunn, an organizer with 50501, a decentralized anti-fascist protest network that is also part of the No Kings coalition. “The goal is not just to demonstrate people power. It’s about channeling people power into something useful.”
Strong early voting participation gives voters time to resolve registration issues and narrows the window for interference, organizers said. They worry that fears about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the FBI or armed activists at polling places could intimidate voters or force them to stay home. They want the results to be “just too important to fake,” Dunn said.
Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, said the authoritarian model relies on creating “fear, uncertainty, confusion and chaos around the voting process,” in part to manufacture grounds to contest the results later. Early voting interrupts that and “ensures that voting is a season rather than a single day,” she said.
Voting as a collective activity
At the heart of the thousands of events planned for Saturday is the goal of making voting a community activity. That’s why the formats of Saturday’s events vary widely, from rallies and concerts in big cities to festivals and block parties to voter registration tables and people along long stretches of highway.
In states where early voting will already take place on Saturday – about half of the United States – Levin said local groups will hold voting sessions and knock on doors. Where this has not yet started, some will host superhero-themed parties, built around the message that voting is a superpower. Others recorded “paws to the polls” events, walking their dogs to vote together.
In the handful of states without in-person early voting — New Hampshire, Alabama and Mississippi — Greenberg said participants will work to help people plan for Election Day.
Sarah Parker, a 50501 organizer in Florida, said small gatherings are important even in conservative places like Sarasota, where gatherings will be paired with virtual events and “educational gatherings” about the importance of voting and how to become a poll watcher. “Even if you’re one or two people, you’re still creating change,” she said, noting that a passing driver might stop and join in.
Election marches, in which neighbors turn out to vote together, also serve a practical purpose amid growing threats at polling stations. “Going in a group helps people be a lot safer than going alone,” Dunn said.
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A response to redistricting
This day of action is also a response to the fallout from the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act in April. Shortly after this decision, several Republican-led states moved to redraw the congressional map to favor the party and, in doing so, dilute black voting power.
Saturday’s headline event, to be held in Atlanta, will highlight the effect of redistricting in the South.
“Black voters are under attack,” LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, the organization organizing the flagship event, said during a press briefing. She pointed to the FBI’s deletion of about 650 boxes of 2020 election records from Fulton County, Ga., in January, and the Justice Department’s efforts to obtain the names and home addresses of nearly 3,000 poll workers. “There is a real effort underway to steal this election,” she said.
Damon Hewitt, president of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said his group is monitoring last-minute voter purges, attempts to seize ballots or materials after the election and intimidation at polling places. Last month, the group participated in a lawsuit aimed at stopping a Trump executive order that would have restricted the delivery of mail-in ballots.
Additionally, in Atlanta, Local 50501 organizers plan to train more than 400 poll watchers and election advocates to ensure voting and counting processes run smoothly for voters and local election officials.
Getting ready to take to the streets – again
Saturday organizers are also recruiting election advocates – volunteers trained to respond if the results are contested. Greenberg said the coalition is preparing people “for mass mobilization on a rapid response basis, if necessary, to respond to election sabotage.”
Levin pointed to Hungary, where he said Viktor Orbán lost power this spring after thousands of local groups pushed turnout to record levels. “The thing you can do is make sure the margins are so big that it’s impossible to fake them,” he said.
Saturday will be judged on one metric, Levin said. “Have we taken early voting to the highest level ever in the midterms? Period. That is the question.”
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