With the Nov. 3 midterm election fast approaching, protesters outside Palm Springs City Hall had a message for those driving by: Make your voice heard. And just steps away, voters could do exactly that by dropping off their ballots.
Five "No Kings" demonstrations took place across the Coachella Valley on Saturday morning, Oct. 17, in Indio, Palm Desert, Cathedral City and at two locations in Palm Springs as part of a nationwide push to encourage early voter turnout.
"'No Kings: Vote Early' is the next step of reclaiming our power after a year of mass mobilizations," according to the No Kings website. "It's a day of nonpartisan voter participation, being in community with each other, and making sure every eligible voter has a plan, knows their
options, and is ready to make their voice count."
In just three hours, residents returned 278 ballots at city hall, said Emily Vogt, an organizer with Courageous Resistance. The group coordinated with the city of Palm Springs and the Riverside County Registrar of Voters to open the county's only ballot drop-off location for the day.
Doug Wiley and his husband, Matt Lund, saw no reason to wait to return their ballots. The couple, who regularly votes early, brought their completed ballots to Palm Springs City Hall rather than mailing them.
Both hope Democrats will gain control of Congress and challenge Trump's administration. But they also recognize that some Americans have grown so discouraged by politics that they question whether voting makes a difference.
"This is the only tool we have to affect change in our democracy, Wiley said, "and we need to participate in that democracy in order to affect that change."
Why some voters aren't waiting until Election Day
As passing motorists honked in support, Anita Six and Sal Montagna stood shoulder to shoulder with other protesters on the sidewalk along East Tahquitz Canyon Way. Six held a handwritten "We the People" sign, while Montagna's simply read "VOTE."
There was a time when Six looked forward to casting her ballot in person on Election Day. This election, she wasn't willing to wait. She had already dropped off her ballot at city hall earlier than she ever had before.
"Are they going to raid the ballot boxes? I know that's an extreme thought," Six said. "But I just wanted to avoid any disruption and make sure my ballot was in."
Montagna said he understood why some might respond to their frustrations by withdrawing from politics altogether. He had plenty of his own, objecting to the portrayal of immigrants as criminals and the racial discrimination he said people of color have faced under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. With "a new jab being sent out" seemingly every day, he said, some have become so exhausted and overwhelmed that they no longer want to vote. But he believed they still needed to participate.
"Everybody's voice is important, and a non-vote is a vote for nothing," he said.
Even after mailing his ballot earlier in the week, Homer Starks, a Desert Hot Springs resident and Army veteran, came by Palm Springs City Hall on Saturday anyway. Sitting in his red lawn chair, Starks seemed delighted to watch voters come and go, reflecting on his own more than 60 years of voting and the civic responsibility that comes with it.
"I've always felt it was an obligation to come out and vote and protect the rights of Americans," he said.
What was at stake for those who joined the 'No Kings' protest
Terry Imber knew why he wanted to join the demonstration. What he hadn't anticipated was how much it would mean to see so many others there.
"When I got here, I actually choked up because here we are, Americans showing we want our government back," he said.
Under a cloudy sky, Imber, 78, attended the event in his wheelchair, with friends by his side. He has never missed an election and couldn't wait to cast his ballot this year. He blamed Trump for ruining the economy and taking the country into what he called an "illegal war," and hoped to live long enough to see him leave office.
And yet, amid those fears about the country's future, he was certain of one thing: there was nowhere else he would rather be than alongside his fellow protesters.
"It's very important to me — as a citizen, as an American," Imber said. "It just shows me I'm not alone. We all feel this way. He's got to go. He's got to go."
Throughout the morning, many demonstrators and voters at Palm Springs' city hall wore handmade quilted hearts pinned to their shirts, each accompanied by a handwritten note that read "Vote." They were the handiwork of Kathy Burk, who had spent six months sewing them in anticipation of attending a rally.
Her eyes welled up as she explained what the hearts represented — freedom and the power of voting — and her fears that her grandchildren could one day see those freedoms diminished.
"I want them to live in a free nation, and I feel like it's time to pay attention," Burk said.
She couldn't know whether the people who accepted her hearts would vote, or how. Still, on a morning devoted to encouraging early voter turnout, her message echoed the appeals heard around her, inviting people to exercise a right and fulfill a civic responsibility — to vote.
Jennifer Cortez covers education and breaking news in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: No Kings protesters in Palm Springs see voting as 'only tool' to stop Trump
