Democracy is not a spectator sport. Whether you want to exercise your right to vote, join a protest, call your elected officials, run for office, or keep tabs on the week’s hottest issues and protests, The Contrarian has you covered.
Here are our top suggestions for getting involved in the days ahead. These are heated times; we encourage non-violent and lawful activism.
Engage with the Art of Resistance
The arts collective Fall of Freedom is back — celebrating free expression as a form of resistance with nationwide events on October 2, 3, and 4. The aim is to “counter fascist repression and censorship” with “defiant creativity” underscoring that “art matters” and that “courage is contagious.”
This is the second annual Fall of Freedom festival, and this year’s FoF calendar is packed nationwide, whether you want to enjoy a poetry jam in Alaska, a Bread & Puppet circus in Wisconsin, or join one of dozens of virtual events accessible online. Wherever you live, find a rebellious art happening near you.
Look Ahead to No Kings 4
The No Kings coalition is getting its gang of millions back together on October 17 to promote early balloting where available and voting plans everywhere else. The idea is to help make the 2026 midterm election “too big to rig” by banking huge numbers of early votes — allowing get-out-the-vote campaigns in November to be more targeted and effective. Watch Indivisible cofounder Ezra Levin’s Contrarian interview on No Kings 4, outlining how to channel people power to the polls this fall.
Learn more about the sky-high stakes of the midterms in this explainer.
Cast Your Ballot Early
If you’re eager to exercise your voting rights, the midterms are already underway in many states. In-person early voting commences within the week in jurisdictions from coast to coast.
October 5: California, Maine, Montana, and Nebraska
October 6: Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wyoming
October 7: Arizona
(States where in-person early voting will be underway by October 7.)
Vote-by-mail is also commencing within the week in Connecticut, Florida, and Massachusetts, which join about 20 other states where ballots have already been mailed out. Check out ElectionInnovation.org for a state-by-state breakdown of how to cast your ballot early. Vote.org also offers an early-voting calendar.
Double Check your Registration
Voter registration deadlines are fast approaching. The most restrictive states require registration nearly a month (either 29 or 30 days) before the end of voting on November 3. This includes Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Please check your state’s details here, and make sure you, your friends, family, and relations are prepared to participate. You can double check your own registration status at Vote411.org and make a plan to cast your ballot.
Door Knock (or Dial) for Democracy
Swing Left is recruiting canvassers to knock on doors to boost turnout in the midterms. Click here to find or organize a canvass for “must flip” races near you. (D.C.-area Contrarians, this recurring weekend canvas in Virginia might be of interest.) If going door-to-door isn’t your speed, Swing Left also has a phone-bank campaign to support the group’s target House, Senate, and state-level races. Likewise, Indivisible has phone bank events to boost candidates in 40 target races — 31 in the House and nine in the Senate.
Protest Trump’s Visit to Alabama
Readers in the South might consider attending a rally and march opposing Trump’s Friday, October 2, visit to Mobile, Alabama. The president is speaking at the University of Southern Alabama’s Student Center at 6 p.m. Indivisible Mobile is planning a march beginning at 1:30 p.m. near the Student Center at 350 Student Center Circle. (Sign up here.) A “No Trump on Our Campus” student-led event begins at 1:30 p.m. at the center. And a People’s Rally is planned for 3 p.m. Friday at Cathedral Square at 300 Conti Street in Mobile, featuring elected officials and surprise speakers.
Rally for Education
Stand up for Science is holding a virtual rally on October 7 to introduce its America’s Compact for Higher Education, which it bills as “a united response to the Trump administration’s efforts to bend the will of our higher ed leadership to his authoritarian control.” The compact features eleven affirmations of academic freedom and institutional independence. Register for the rally here.
Protect National Parks
The Trump administration’s mistreatment and neglect of our National Parks is infamous. The Center for Western Priorities has the receipts. Check out a new CWP site, where you can track broken agreements and blocked funding for critical park projects and protections including “fire preparedness, hazardous tree removal, archaeological surveys, [and] endangered species recovery.” (Read more about such cuts in the Washington Post.) CWP has mapped 133 broken funding agreements across 61 federal sites, from the Cape Cod National Seashore to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Click here to survey the damage. And contact your members of Congress to seek full funding of our parks.
Click here to find The Contrarian’s standing resources for empowering yourself in American civic life — from contacting your elected officials, to ensuring your right to vote, to supporting public-interest journalism.
Thank you for the article, We need to stop Trump from selling our national parks.
We receive our ballots in the mail. We must vote on 60 judges in Cook County Illinois. This takes almost one hour to research. But, we do not ever mail them. We deliver the ballots to where we are told to go. In our case it is an early voting location with drop boxes located SAFELY inside the building.