Ellen,

Two big things happened last week: the President of the United States led thousands of supporters at a half-empty GOP convention in a pledge to "cheat like hell" in the midterms, and the next No Kings, set for October 17, launched. They're connected.

The president will try to sabotage the midterms. You don't have to share my view that Trump is an authoritarian facing an electoral wipeout, doing what authoritarians do when the walls close in. Just look at what he's saying and doing: yeah, this guy is going to go for it. Marc Elias lays it out, however hard the legacy media tries to both-sides it.

Here’s where I will editorialize: he’s going to fail. 

No Kings on October 17 is designed to overcome Trump’s sabotage. We sent a clear message of defiance to authoritarian rule with historically large, powerful, and joyful protests at No Kings 1, 2, and 3. The time for simply sending a message is over. October 17 is built to prevent an authoritarian from subverting an election and to take back power for the people. Success this time comes down to two things: did we drive the largest early vote in the history of the republic, and did we recruit and train a grassroots force capable of repelling Trump's sabotage?

So how do we do that?

1. Boost early turnout to historic levels. You want to take down an authoritarian? Make turnout too big to rig. Bank votes early so they can't be suppressed and so problems surface while there's still time to fix them. Turn the election into a season of voting rather than a single day that’s vulnerable to attacks. The point of historic early vote turnout is that every ballot cast makes sabotage harder to pull off and easier to expose.
2. Recruit and prepare to repel sabotage. We know it’s coming, and we know the only thing that stops it is mass, organized, nonviolent, insistent people power. To keep the country from shrugging and metabolizing blatant sabotage, we'll likely need a big national freakout and concentrated mobilization that could last days or weeks. We shouldn't wait until it happens to build the force that responds.

Your local No Kings size and shape depends on your community. We’re going to have millions of people at thousands of events on October 17. What will it look like?

Early vote in full swing. In states like Ohio, Minnesota, and Georgia, maybe your No Kings event is a big GOTV drive, or a post-voting celebration where everybody parties after bringing a friend to vote. 

Early vote starting soon. In states like Texas, Alaska, and Michigan, in-person early voting begins within days of October 17. Maybe your No Kings is a rally that spotlights the sabotage threat and makes sure every single person in your community knows the first day they can vote. 

Early vote won’t be happening. A handful of states don’t or effectively don’t do universal early voting at scale, like New Hampshire, Alabama, Pennsylvania (with some caveats). That sucks! Your events lean into boosting election-day turnout and focusing the public on the threats they need to show up in force to repel.

This is going to take creativity -- something the No Kings movement has in spades. Community BBQs, GOTV actions, superhero costume parties, visibility brigades, big ol’ No Kings-style rallies. You -- yes you -- can do this. Get your Indivisible group or a few friends together, plan something fun and impactful, and get it on the map.

October 17 will be a historic inflection point. Millions of Americans in thousands of communities will use our constitutional rights to vote and organize to defend that vote. We’ve always been headed here -- for this moment where democracy reasserts itself. We’re the ones doing the reasserting. And we will win.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

1. Find a No Kings: Vote Early event near you (or host one of your own) on October 17 to translate the strength of our protest power into an unprecedented wave of voter turnout in the midterms. As Trump threatens to sabotage our elections, we’re going to turn out in massive numbers to defend our sacred right to vote and exercise that right through record-breaking early voting. Read on for more information below.
2. This Thursday, September 17, join the No Kings coalition’s first nationwide Election Protection 101 training to learn how you can take action to defend the vote, no matter where you live (8pm ET/5pm PT). In the first of the No Kings coalition’s series of trainings leading up to October 17, we’ll focus on local polling place election protection, how to spot potential voter suppression issues and what to do when you see them.
3. The Senate is expected to vote to open debate on the CLARITY Act TOMORROW, September 15. Keep calling your Democratic US senators to demand they reject this toothless crypto “regulation” bill that would only further enable Trump’s crypto corruption. The CLARITY Act was predicted to sail through the Senate without much resistance, but public outcry about Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto profits (and the bill’s failure to rein it in) toxified it so much that it hit roadblock after roadblock. Now back from the August recess, our senators are taking it up once again -- and we need to keep up the pressure until this bill is dead and buried.
4. Read, absorb, and share an op-ed in The Guardian by Indivisible co-directors Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin about the general election messaging we need to crush Trump-aligned candidates in battleground states this November. Indivisible just completed a poll on the issues and messaging that can move battleground voters in the midterm elections. The results are covered in a new op-ed we highly recommend for candidates and activists.
5. This Wednesday, September 16, make calls to voters in Ohio in support of Sherrod Brown (OH-Sen), Brian Poindexter (OH-07), and Don Leonard (OH-15) (5:30pm ET/2:30pm PT). We have a real opportunity to oust THREE of Trump’s MAGA yes-men from Congress and replace them with leaders who will fight for working people, not capitulate to corporate interests and a wannabe king. We CAN flip these seats to usher in Democratic majorities in Congress -- but we need your help to do it. Paid for by Indivisible Action. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.
6. SATURDAY, September 19: Indivisible’s phone bank partnership with mega-popular romance podcast Fated Mates is BACK! Join us for the first Fated States phone bank of the midterms to make calls to Georgia voters in support of Sen. Jon Ossoff (1pm ET/10am PT). Come for the important chats with voters; stay for the giveaways, guest visitors, and camaraderie with fellow romance readers! Part of our Podcasters Save Democracy series, Fated States phone banks will continue every Saturday until the election. Paid for by Indivisible Action. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

P.S. Indivisible is firing on all cylinders to win Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and protect the results of the midterms this November. With phone banks and the deployment of our revolutionary canvassing tools in over 40 races, this is our largest midterm campaign ever -- and it's all funded by grassroots supporters like you. If you can, please chip in to help us reach our biggest monthly fundraising goal of the year and fuel our work to get out the vote and defend the results.

Good News for a Change

Last week, amid rising concerns that Trump may try to send his secret police force to polling sites this November to terrorize voters and advance his deportation and detention agenda, the city of Denver and a coalition of advocacy groups filed a lawsuit to block DHS from deploying ICE agents to the polls.

During his confirmation hearings and again just earlier this month, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin refused to rule out sending ICE to the polls, claiming they could be sent to respond to a “specific threat.” Of course, that’s no reassurance when ICE death squads murdered Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Johan Sebastian Guerrero, Renee Nicole Good, and Alex Pretti, and have disappeared thousands of our neighbors and loved ones.

Coloradans are taking matters into their own hands. The lawsuit asserts that “the specter of armed officers at polling places threatens the freedom of this upcoming election,” and that even though sending armed agents to the polls is unequivocally illegal, DHS has already shown disregard for existing federal law.

This is the kind of energy we need from our elected officials. We cannot simply take Trump or Mullin at their word -- this corrupt administration has trampled on the law since day one. In these final weeks before the election, local and state leaders must do everything they can to enact safeguards to protect voters from the regime’s intimidation.

 Upcoming events + Election shifts

These nationwide events, calls, training sessions, and electoral volunteer opportunities are coming up soon. For even more Indivisible happenings, check our national calendar and get in touch with Indivisible groups near you!