FEC Electronic Filing System Offline Following Reported Cyberattack Ahead of Midterm Elections
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) electronic filing system has been offline since Monday night following reports that a 'bad actor' attempted to breach the agency's systems. While the FEC is working on a fix, the outage prevents the public and regulators from accessing time-sensitive campaign finance disclosures during a critical window before the 2026 midterm elections. The disruption occurs as political spending reaches record levels, with AdImpact reporting $11.21 billion in total spending and reservations for the cycle. The inability to view real-time disclosures—such as required 24-hour reports for outside groups—creates a significant transparency gap at a time when massive expenditures from entities like Elon Musk's America PAC are expected.
Topics: campaign finance disclosure cyberattack election security FEC outage