Attempted breach disrupts FEC campaign finance filings before midterms

The Federal Election Commission’s electronic filing system remained offline Wednesday after an attempted breach prompted the agency to shut down public-facing services days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

An FEC electronic filings officer told campaign compliance firms Monday night that a “bad actor” was attempting to breach agency systems, according to an email obtained by Reuters. The filing system went offline around 10 p.m. ET Monday. On Tuesday evening, the FEC said it had identified the issue and was implementing a fix, but the service had not yet been restored early Wednesday.

The agency has not identified who was behind the attempt or said whether anyone gained access to its systems or compromised data. Previously filed reports remain searchable on the FEC website.

The outage prevents candidates, political committees and outside groups from submitting some time-sensitive disclosures, including 24-hour spending reports and reports of certain contributions or loans that must be filed within 48 hours near an election. It comes during heavy late-cycle political spending: AdImpact said advertising spending and future reservations for the 2026 elections had reached about $11.21 billion.

The FEC oversees campaign finance laws but does not administer elections or count ballots, so the disruption does not affect voters’ ability to cast ballots. The FBI referred questions to the FEC, while the agency said its IT staff was working to restore service.