Washington, D.C.
US capital city; seat of Congress, The White House, and federal regulators like the FCC.
On 9 October 2026 the federal court in Washington ruled, in Common Cause v. Department of Justice, that the department's voter-roll programme was unlawful; by the Brennan Center's count the department has sued 30 states and the District itself for voter lists.
Last refreshed: 18 October 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
Timeline for Washington, D.C.
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US Midterms 2026Arlington sues over armed men at polls
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: Judge voids DOJ's SAVE voter-roll policy
US Midterms 2026Named alongside the 30 sued states
US Midterms 2026: Mentioned in: DOJ loses again on state voter filesGraham dies at 71, vacating Budget chair
US Midterms 2026Background
Washington, D.C. is the federal capital of the United States and the working seat of Congress, The White House and the federal departments. Policy made, cases brought and rules set there reach far beyond the city: the Justice Department's voter-file litigation is one example. Agencies including the Federal Communications Commission regulate national industries from the capital.
The District is separate from Washington State and from every state. It has no vote in the Senate and elects only a non-voting delegate to The House of Representatives, Eleanor Holmes Norton. Muriel Bowser, mayor since 2015, is not seeking a fourth term in the November 2026 mayoral election.
On 9 October 2026 Judge Sparkle Sooknanan of the federal court in Washington ruled in Common Cause v. Department of Justice that the Justice Department's voter-roll programme was unlawful.
Washington hosts the voter-roll ruling
On 9 October 2026 Judge Sparkle Sooknanan of the federal court in Washington ruled, in Common Cause v. Department of Justice, that the department acted unlawfully in collecting state rolls, checking them against the SAVE citizenship database and demanding removals. The 78-page ruling decided part of the case on the law without a trial, and the department said it was reviewing it.
The District of Columbia is also a defendant: the Justice Department sued it and 30 states for their voter files, 31 cases in all, and by 23 July 2026 had lost seventeen on the merits and settled one in Oklahoma. For the District's own election office, the ruling means a federal request to strike names from its roll now needs an appeals court to revive it.
Reference
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 18 October 2026. Editorial standards.