Stan Taylor
This is no ordinary midterm election. It is the opportunity to check the man who would be dictator, the billionaire tech brothers that don’t believe in democracy and white Christian nationalists who want to roll America back to a time before the Civil Rights amendments guaranteed equal protection of the law and the right to vote.
Across the country some politicians are working hard to undermine trust in our elections, weaken our right to vote, and make it harder for our voices to be heard. This is not a future threat, attacks on our election are happening now.
Over the past two years the No Kings coalition has worked to create collective resistance by creating a social movement that works to protect our immigrant neighbors from detention and deportation, boycott the corporations responsible, and hold politicians accountable.
In the three previous No Kings calls to action millions of Americans took to the streets in protest. Now is the time to move beyond protest into action by voting early and taking steps to protect our election infrastructure.
On Oct. 17 from 2 pm to 4 pm, the Community Action Network is holding a “No Kings — Vote Early” nonpartisan defense of democracy focusing on early voter mobilization and election protection in alliance with Common Cause Oregon, with speakers, music, sign waving along Coburg Road and the Ferry Street bridge, action tables, and fundraising for immigrant justice. This will be a permitted, festive family-friendly event.
Oct. 17 is not the finish line. The work of protecting our elections and holding politicians and corporations accountable must continue after these elections, because No Kings is a social movement focused on creating a just nation. Register at: Mobilize.us/nokings/event/1036411.
Stan Taylor BA, JD, LLM, Ph.D. is on the steering committee of Indivisible Eugene Springfield, a retired instructor of political science, and former chair of the Lane Peace Center at Lane Community College.
The Community Action Network includes local chapters of Indivisible Eugene Springfield, NAACP, United for Immigrant Justice, League of Women Voters, Friends Organizing for Racial Justice (formerly SURJ), and 350 Eugene.