Naperville's early voting push got a boost Saturday, Oct. 17, when a crowd packed the Washington Street bridge to rally for the midterms with a Dixieland band playing on the sidewalk.

The "No Kings: Vote Early" event, organized by Indivisible Naperville, the League of Women Voters of Naperville and the American Association of University Women Naperville Area (AAUW), drew what the Naperville Sun reported as nearly 200 people to downtown. NCTV17 reported police estimated several hundred. DuPage County Republicans sent message trucks through the area in a counter-protest.

Organizers said the gathering was meant to be nonpartisan and to encourage people to make a plan to vote. The location near the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., was strategic. The center is an early voting site for DuPage County residents.

Donna Cheesebrough, president of the League of Women Voters of Naperville, told the Naperville Sun the rally was positioned close to the voting site to encourage early voting without interfering with the process.

Dianne McGuire, co-leader of Indivisible Naperville, told NCTV17 this was the fourth No Kings event held in Naperville. "The others have all been geared for a protest sort of vibe. This one is not," McGuire said. She arranged for the Dixieland band after hearing a saxophone player perform "America the Beautiful" at a protest in Oak Brook a year earlier, the Naperville Sun reported. She said she was pleased to see attendees bouncing along to the music.

Signs in the crowd ranged from "Now or Never 2026 Midterm Elections" to "Rise Up! Take Back What's Ours! Vote!" Some attendees also carried signs denouncing the Trump administration and chanted "Vote them out."

Midway through the rally, safety marshals walked a group of about 30 participants to the Municipal Center to cast ballots, according to NCTV17. Naperville resident Cheryl Small was among those who made the walk with her friend Tina Helfer of Lisle. Helfer dropped off her mail-in ballot Saturday, while Small said she planned to vote when additional Will County early voting sites open Monday, Oct. 19.

Then the Republican trucks arrived. People booed. Some turned their backs.

"Get lost!" yelled Naperville resident Don McBride, who was speaking to a reporter when the trucks drove by.

The trucks were arranged by the DuPage County Republican Party, which sent them to No Kings rallies across the county. The message boards read "Say No To Pritzker The Tax King" and "Reject Socialism, Vote Republican."

DuPage County Republican Party Chair Kevin Coyne said the trucks were meant to highlight what he called the irony of the protests. He pointed to Gov. JB Pritzker and former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan as examples of one-party rule in the state.

Coyne said he also hoped the trucks would encourage Republicans to vote early. "Republicans have been very, very, very, I think, stubborn to move off of election day voting, which just really hurts our candidates," he told the Naperville Sun.

Both Coyne and McGuire said they wanted people to vote. McGuire told NCTV17 the rally's purpose was to get people to take action at the ballot box. Coyne said Republicans unhappy with the state's direction need to exercise their right.

Early voting at the Naperville Municipal Center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon for DuPage County voters. Additional voting sites in DuPage and Will counties open Monday, Oct. 19. Election Day is Nov. 3.