Washington D.C. Voters Use Ranked-Choice Voting in General Election

Voters in Washington, D.C., participated in the 2026 general election on Tuesday, November 3, marking the first time the District utilized ranked-choice voting. This system allows voters to rank up to five candidates for various offices. The election features several high-profile vacancies, including the mayor's office, vacated by three-term mayor Muriel Bowser, and the Delegate to the U.S. House seat, vacated by the retiring Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Janeese Lewis George is the favorite to succeed Bowser as mayor. Robert White, the Democratic nominee for the non-voting congressional delegate seat, resigned from his D.C. Council seat on November 2 to comply with statutes barring delegates from holding other paid public office on Election Day. Other contested races include two At-Large seats on the D.C. Council, ward-level council seats, the D.C. Attorney General, and the Chair of the D.C. Council. Voters are also deciding on Initiative 86, which would prohibit the force-feeding of birds and the sale of foie gras.

The voting process followed severe power outages that affected over 1,100 sites across the city, including George Washington University and the State Department. The Potomac Electric Power Company reported that power was mostly restored by 2 p.m. on November 2, though the cause of the outages remains under investigation.