Hackers Knock Out FEC Filing System One Week Before Midterms

A cyberattack has taken down the Federal Election Commission's electronic filing system.

The outage began at approximately 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, October 26. It disrupts the agency's ability to process mandatory reports one week before the November 3 elections. An email sent by an FEC electronic filings officer to compliance firms that night confirmed a bad actor was attempting to breach systems.

The FEC stated in a public notice that its IT staff are actively working to restore service. While the main filing portal is offline, the agency said users can still search its website for past reports. The Commission declined to offer further details on the specific nature of the attack.

This disruption prevents political organizations from submitting their 24-hour and 48-hour spending reports. These documents detail exactly how much money groups are spending on specific races. The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency referred questions about the incident back to the FEC without providing independent commentary.

Steven Mele, president and CEO of MBA Consulting Group, noted that he has not seen a similar failure in his 26 years in the industry. He warned that the outage will result in less disclosure on the elections until the system is back online. Mele operates a firm that helps political committees meet compliance requirements.

The timing of the breach coincides with a surge in campaign expenditure. The current midterms have become the most expensive U.S. election in history. According to political ad tracker AdImpact, roughly $11.21 billion has been spent on advertising and future reservations. This figure surpasses the previous record of $11.2 billion set during the 2024 elections.

A large portion of that spending comes from super PACs and dark money groups. These entities can accept unlimited funds from wealthy individuals and corporations. They spend that money on campaigns with few restrictions on their activities. Brendan Glavin, research director at the nonpartisan watchdog group OpenSecrets, said these groups have averaged over $50 million in daily spending over the last week.

Glavin pointed to data showing more than $250 million in reported spending on October 20 alone. He described the outage as a major issue because the missing reports are the primary method for tracking where money is being deployed. In the final days of an election, these documents serve as the only real-time indicator of financial flows.

The FEC does not administer elections or manage voter access to polls. The agency tracks the financial activities of candidates and political committees. Therefore, the outage should not affect a voter's ability to cast a ballot. However, it halts the public record of who is spending money and where.

The 2024 presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris accounted for $3.2 billion of the previous record. The current cycle has exceeded that total across all races combined. The disruption leaves campaign finance officers unable to file required reports while the agency works to secure its digital infrastructure.