A Vote Early event rallied over 200 people outside the Ohio Statehouse’s William McKinley Memorial to encourage voter participation ahead of midterm elections.
Though the 2025 No Kings event in Columbus focused on challenging policies from the Trump administration, per prior Lantern reporting, this year’s event pushed civic participation through six speakers, over 200 people marching several blocks through downtown Columbus and singing songs.??
The rally began at 4:30 p.m. with speakers sharing testimonies and participants of various early voting groups passing out information material and opinion pieces, later transitioning into a march around 5:30 p.m.
One of the speakers was Ohio State physics professor Christopher Orban, who is part of the advocacy group ‘Stand Up for Science.’ In his speech, Orban called for defending science and opposing political budget cuts.?
“I think that a lot of the professors have watched all of the changes happening and felt powerless,” Orban said. “I was glad to be able to speak out; to vocalize that frustration.”
Here is a gallery from the rally.
