<P> Watching the presidential debate are deli owner Joe Dixon, his assistant Marcos, and former purger turned EMT Laney Rucker . A pair of teenage girls enters the store and shoplifts, only to be cornered by Joe . The girls mock Joe until Laney intervenes; recognizing her as a famous ex-Purger, they leave peacefully . Joe receives a phone call stating the cost of his purge insurance has increased beyond his affordability . Joe decides to guard his store himself, despite Marcos and Laney's pleas not to . At the same time, the country's so - called "Murder tourism" booms the economy due to tourists visiting the United States to participate in the annual Purge nights . </P> <P> On the night of the purge, Joe guards his store and is joined by Marcos, and together they manage to repel an attack by the teenage girls . Laney and her partner Dawn patrol the city in an ambulance, providing medical care to the wounded . Roan decides to wait out the purge from her home rather than a secure location to secure the vote, and is accompanied by Barnes, Chief Couper, Eric, and additional security forces . However, a betrayal by Chief Couper and Eric allows a neo-Nazi paramilitary force led by Earl Danzinger to kill the security detail and invade the house . Barnes escorts Roan to safety, but is wounded in the process . He detonates a bomb in the house, killing Eric and Chief Couper . </P> <P> Navigating the hostile streets of Washington D.C., Barnes and Roan attempt to seek shelter, but are ambushed by a gang of Purgers and taken captive . Before they can be executed, Joe and Marcos kill the gang, having seen the pair's plight from the store's rooftop . As they take shelter in the store, the teenage girls return with reinforcements . However, Laney runs over their leader and kills half the group . As the other Purgers threaten to break in, they leave for a safer hideout . The team is ambushed by Danzinger in a helicopter, and seeks refuge beneath an overpass wherein Barnes realizes they were tracked by the bullet lodged inside him, and manages to extract it . After a confrontation with a large number of Crips, the team helps their leader's injured comrade . In return, the Crips plant the bullet in another area to divert the paramilitary team, which they later eliminate . </P> <P> The team arrives at an underground antipurge hideout run by Dante Bishop . Barnes discovers that Bishop's group intends to assassinate the NFFA, in an effort to end the purge . A large group of paramilitary forces arrives at the hideout looking for Bishop . Barnes and Roan escape back to the streets and meet Joe, Marcos, and Laney, who had left the hideout earlier to return to Joe's store . They board an ambulance . </P>

Where does the purge election year take place