Napa’s No Kings Rally Puts Early Voting at the Center of Oxbow Commons

NAPA: Napa’s edition of the nationwide No Kings: Vote Early day of action brought supporters to Oxbow Commons on Saturday, Oct. 17, turning the riverside park in the Oxbow district into a Halloween themed push for early voting ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The rally ran in the 1 to 3 p.m. slot listed by its local organizers, Indivisible Napa and the Democrats of Napa Valley, at 1268 McKinstry Street.

Video and photographs posted by the organizers and by attendees after the event show handmade signs, speakers addressing the gathering through microphones and voter information tables on the lawn, with some attendees in costume. Signs visible in the organizers’ recap video read “Vote Early” and “No Thrones No Crowns No Kings.” Organizers had not published a turnout estimate for the Napa event as of Sunday.

Photograph by Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

It’s a day of nonpartisan voter participation: we are bringing our community together to make a plan to vote early and ensuring every eligible voter understands their options for how to vote and has the opportunity to make their voice heardNo Kings organizers, in a statement reported by The Business Standard

Trick or vote

Local organizers billed the Napa gathering as Trick or Vote and encouraged voting themed costumes and No Kings signs. The program published by both Indivisible Napa and the Democrats of Napa Valley promised trick-or-treat stops at community tables offering voter information and treats, a Village Voters Photo Booth, local speakers and a community march.

It’s a day of nonpartisan voter participation

Attendee photographs posted Saturday evening show the Trick or Vote banner strung over a decorated table, participants in matching Resist shirts and at least one butterfly costume, and volunteers posed beside a Napa County official ballot drop box.

A national day with a ballot box message

Saturday’s events were the latest round of the No Kings mobilizations. Courier California described the effort as organized by a coalition including the American Civil Liberties Union, MoveOn Civic Action, Indivisible and the 50501 Movement, political and advocacy groups affiliated with the Democratic Party. That reporting noted that the October events shifted the movement’s focus toward encouraging early voting ahead of the midterm elections, with activities nationwide that included block parties, rallies and walks to the polls.

Photograph by Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Indivisible Napa describes the No Kings: Vote Early events as nonpartisan and designed to increase participation from all eligible voters, and notes that a core principle behind No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. National reporting on Sunday confirmed that the Oct. 17 demonstrations were held across the United States as early voting got under way for the Nov. 3 midterms, which will determine which party controls Congress during the second half of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Napa County’s election machinery is already moving

For Napa County voters, the calendar the rally pointed to is already under way. The county Election Division is mailing a replacement Voter Information Guide for Measure B to all registered voters after the names of four signers of the Rebuttal to the Argument Against Measure B were inadvertently omitted from the original guide mailed Oct. 5, according to a county notice posted Oct. 9. Vote by mail ballot processing begins Thursday, Oct. 22, and vote centers open Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Election Division office at 1125 Third Street in Napa and the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in American Canyon, with public observation welcome, the county said.