The No Kings movement trades protest signs for ballots in more than 3,000 vote early events across the country

The movement changed its method on Saturday. After three national protest days that drew millions into the streets, the No Kings coalition turned its network toward the ballot box, staging more than 3,000 events on October 17 built around early voting: marches that ended at polling places, parties at ballot drop boxes, registration checks and rides to vote.

In Indianapolis, two groups marched to the governor's residence. In Phoenix, protesters marched to the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center to drop off their ballots. In Orono, Maine, demonstrators bundled against a bitter fall wind lined an intersection and a bridge, one attendee wearing a quilt sewn with the words Stand up for democracy. In Michigan, one event took a Halloween theme and another asked people to bring signs and American flags. In Palm Beach County, Florida, demonstrators lined PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens while trucks flying Trump flags made their rounds past them.

Organizers said plainly that Saturday would look smaller than the protest days, and that the result would be measured in early voting numbers released by the states rather than in crowd counts. Lisa Gilbert, a co president of Public Citizen, told USA Today the day was a strategic move to help people use the most tangible power they have, which is voting, and called it a massive day of voter participation. The coalition behind the events includes Indivisible, MoveOn, the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Citizen, Black Voters Matter and the American Federation of Teachers, among hundreds of partner groups.

The president spent the same Saturday on the other side of the argument, flying from Palm Beach to a Republican rally in Kentucky. Both camps are now running the same play with different voters: turn October energy into November ballots before November 3 arrives.