Local News
On Oct. 17, “No Kings” will return to a dozen Massachusetts cities and towns to encourage people to vote early.
“No Kings” is mobilizing in October to encourage people to vote early.
The “No Kings” coalition, which includes the ACLU of Massachusetts, Indivisible Mass Coalition, and Mass 50501, is hosting a coordinated wave of events across the country on Oct. 17 to ensure people are ready to vote on or before Election Day. A dozen cities in Massachusetts are set to host events, among them Boston, Brookline, Worcester, and Falmouth.
“For some communities, Oct. 17 is the day to cast a ballot at an early voting site. For others, it’s the day to submit an absentee ballot request, check voter registration status, or create a plan to get to the polls on Nov. 3, the coalition’s website said.
“We know our right to vote wasn’t given. It was won by people who marched, sat in, stood in line for hours in the rain, and risked everything so we could stand here today,” the description for a Sept. 10 “Vote Early Kickoff Call” said. “Every generation before us fought for it. And now it’s ours to carry forward.”
While “families across the country are struggling to afford groceries, gas, electric bills, and the everyday cost of getting by,” the movement is encouraging people to vote early as a way to reclaim power from the country’s leaders, the website said.
“Our elections are under attack. Efforts to undermine trust in our elections, weaken voting rights, and make it harder for people to have their voices heard are occurring across the country,” Mass 50501, a civil rights and pro-democracy activist group, said in an Instagram about the “No Kings” events. “That’s why we need to show our collective power and show up to the polls this November.”
The coalition first held protests across the country on June 14, 2025—President Trump’s birthday—to make it clear that America has no kings. The protests have drawn more than 7 million protesters on each of two subsequent mobilization days in October 2025 and in March.
While “previous ‘No Kings’ mobilizations showed the strength of people standing together and rejecting abuses of power,” October’s event will move “from protest to supporting nonpartisan voter participation by making sure people are ready to vote early to choose their leaders,” the “No Kings” website said. Communities may host different events from “block parties to cookouts to human chains to walks to the polls.”
Mass 50501 said a rally on Boston Common is planned for Oct. 17. Instead, “we are planning impactful action,” the details of which were not shared in the group’s initial Instagram post.
The “No Kings” coalition did not respond for a request for comment Wednesday night.
Where ‘No Kings’ protests are taking place in Mass. on Oct. 17:
- Boston
- Brookline
- Watertown
- Newton
- Bolton
- Sherborn
- Norfolk
- Falmouth
- Worcester
- Hadley
- Northampton
- Westfield
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