On Saturday morning, in a grassy stretch of park next to the Evanston School District building, local community organisation Indivisible Evanston hosted the city’s latest No Kings demonstration.
The No Kings movement began in June of 2025. Its first nationwide protest coincided with parades held on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, and criticised him for authoritarian and self-aggrandising actions. A second was held later that year. A third, in March of 2026, focused on the administration’s hardline deportation policies, and the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by immigration officers.
But with just two weeks to go until the midterm elections, this No Kings protest—styled as “No Kings: Vote Early”—shifted the focus towards voting rights and election security. Around the country and here in Evanston, the movement’s leaders are concerned that Trump’s policies could threaten free elections.
“ So much is being undermined,” said Indivisible Evanston organiser Susan Sidell. “Ballot boxes being taken away from communities, times of voting have been reduced in, in many communities, requirements for IDs that were never required before; so many things are undermining people’s confidence in being able to vote.”
Another organisation that made an appearance was Illinois’ American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Senior policy counsel Aisha Davis took the stage to urge voters to be prepared for election day.
“Make sure that not only you feel empowered and encouraged and have that plan together,” she said, “but that everyone that you know and care about also has that plan together.”
In a press release before the event, Indivisible Evanston billed it as nonpartisan, and focused primarily on educating voters. But among both speakers and attendees, the talk quickly turned political.
In a fiery speech, Reverend Michael Nabors, who leads the Evanston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a local church, denounced Republicans in Congress. And in an interview after the rally, he sounded the alarm bell for what he saw as the threats facing democracy.
“Voting is under attack,” said Nabors. “Democracy is under attack.”
In our conversation Nabors referenced recent gerrymandering campaigns, in which elected officials redrew congressional districts to favour their own parties. Both Democrats and Republicans made these efforts, but the overall effect will likely favour the GOP—and dilute majority-black districts.
After the rally, the crowd marched towards the Skokie Sculpture Park, where Indivisible had set up a visibility event. Along McCormick Boulevard, protestors held signs denouncing the Trump administration and urging early voting. They led chants with drums and megaphones, and drivers stopped to wave and honk their support.
At the visibility event, I spoke with Judy, a psychotherapist from Evanston. For her, the protests offered solace—a reassurance that others shared their fears about the state of our democracy, and that others were willing to fight back.
“The only way to do it is for us all to be heartened and not in despair,” she said, “and the way to do that is to be together, to sing, to walk, and to just remember that we are not alone.”
Since the beginning of their movement, the No Kings protestors have seen American democracy as being under threat. They fear that the Trump administration’s authoritarian tendencies will only continue to erode their political rights, and they’ve been looking for a way to curb its power. Now, the first nationwide elections since Trump’s return to the presidency are quickly approaching. They’ve staked a lot on Democrats’ ability to win big in the midterms and curtail Trump’s policies, and they’re promoting early and strategic voting as a way to make sure that happens.
But what about the day after? With more Democrats in office, what shape will the movement for voting rights take? Patrick Hanley, the Democratic nominee to represent Evanston in the Illinois Senate, turned up at the visibility event. There, he argued that Democrats in the legislature should focus on funding and supporting the Illinois Accountability Commission and Attorney-General’s office. Both have worked to monitor the federal government’s actions on voting rights and immigration, and to file lawsuits.
“We need to fund [those] again this year, and then make sure that Illinoisans have the power to sue when crimes have been committed,” he said. “And that is a real tension in federalism, but it’s something that I think the state government needs to stand up for and keep advocating for.”
Opposition towards the Trump administration has reached a boiling point, both here in Evanston and nationwide. Trump’s approval rating stands at just 34%, according to The Economist’s polling average, and generic ballot surveys heavily favour Democrats. But it remains to be seen whether this discontent will translate into the changes protesters want to see. For now, though, they’re focused on the midterms, and ensuring their voices are heard at the ballot box, one chant at a time.