Bloomington residents participated in one of over 3,000 nationwide No Kings rallies held to encourage early voting in the November midterm elections Saturday at the Monroe County Courthouse, part of the 50501 movement.
Sandy Washburn, a rally organizer, said 50501 is a collection of local grassroots organizations with a multitude of organizers involved. District names for 50501 correspond with the area’s congressional district — Bloomington is the 9th District.
“We want to raise awareness about the issues and in particular, the degree to which there's concern about, like, interference in the process,” Christopher Robinson, a media representative for District 9 50501, said.
Nearly 400 people attended from 3 to 5 p.m., Robinson estimated. Robinson said Saturday’s rally was different from previous national and local No Kings protests because the goal was to educate others and raise awareness for a cause. Protests demand an action be taken by citizens in a democracy to oppose a democratic process people are discontented with.
At the start of October, the national organization announced voting “challenges" on social media leading up to Saturday's rallies. One challenge was to give someone a ride to an early voting location. Another was to check your voter registration.
The event officially began at 3 p.m. with a 30-minute performance from the Midwest Liberation Front, a group of Hoosier singers and acoustic players who sing songs of activism and the Singing Resistance. However, rally organizers and attendees began tabling at 2:30 p.m. Organizations tabling at the rally included the Sierra Club, Bloomington Homes for All and Exodus Refugee.
A range of speakers addressed rallygoers and people walking by from a tent on the steps of the courthouse for the last hour and a half of the event.
“Today’s rally is about voting, civic engagement, community, uniting to make things better for all of us,” Washburn wrote in an email to the speakers before the event.
The speakers talked about multiple causes including housing insecurity, young voters and refugees in America. The speakers related their topics back to the importance of voting. One speaker, retired attorney Guy Loftman, explained that in 1984, Indiana Rep. Frank McCloskey-D was running for re-election and won by four votes.
However, four absentee ballots had not been counted. If they had been counted, the election would have had to run a special election to break that tie, Loftman said.
“And sometimes that one vote is the one that makes all the difference,” Loftman said.
Bloomington resident Judy Owens, a Republican, attended the rally. Owens made a sign that depicted a guillotine with blood on the blade and text reading, “The rich should be begging to be taxed,” followed by the signature, “A rational republican.”
“I think it’s incredibly important that people vote and demonstrate their values,” Owens said. “This is Monroe County, we step up. I think that everyone can agree that it’s stupid to have trillionaires.”
Another attendee was Heather Hickox, an Owen County resident and mother who brought two of her five daughters with her: 12-year-old Wyllow Whicker and 11-year-old Vyvian Whicker. Another one of her daughters, Rylee Whicker, has autism and chose not to attend to avoid getting overstimulated, Heather Hickox said. Rylee Whicker still wanted to participate in the rally, so she created their signs.
Hickox’s sign stated, “It’s not Red vs Blue It’s Billionaire$ v.s You!” The sign Vyvian Whicker held up said “No Fascists, Kings, Tyrants Nazis.” Wyllow Whicker’s sign read “Veto the Cheeto,” with a Cheeto drawn with President Donald Trump’s hair and a navy-blue suit jacket.
“I’m the mother of five girls and this administration these past few years has been a really scary time for me just as a mom, as a female in general,” Hickox said. “To be a mother of five girls watching all the choices and decisions being made, the changes being made, I don’t like it. And I feel like as a good example for my own girls, I need to stand up and say something.”
At the end of the rally, organizers announced their decision for who won “best poster.” An attendee wearing an inflatable frog costume won first place and $50, holding a sign reading “DON’T FROGET TO VOTE.”
To conclude the rally, the Singing Resistance performed, while attendees were encouraged to stand around the courthouse lawn, holding their own signs or paper signs organizers passed out that said “VOTE EARLY.”
The midterm elections are Nov. 3, with Indiana Secretary of State, Indiana State Treasurer, Indiana’s 9th Congressional District and other state and local races on the ballot.
