A cyberattack attempt forced the US Federal Election Commission to take its electronic filing system offline on October 26, 2026, just one week before the November 3 midterm elections. The disruption blocks political groups and super PACs from submitting mandatory 24-hour and 48-hour spending disclosures during a record $11.21 billion election cycle. Officials emphasize the outage affects campaign transparency rather than voting mechanics, as IT staff work to implement a fix and restore services.
System outage and restoration efforts
- ▪The Federal Election Commission electronic filing system went offline around 10:00 p.m. ET on October 26, 2026, prompting agency IT staff to work on service restoration.
- ▪A Federal Election Commission status message on October 27, 2026 stated that the technical issue was identified and a fix was being implemented.
Cyberattack details and law enforcement response
- ▪The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI referred questions regarding the Federal Election Commission cyberattack attempt to the Federal Election Commission.
- ▪Federal officials and the Federal Election Commission did not publicly identify who was responsible for the cyberattack attempt or confirm whether systems were successfully breached.
- ▪An automated Federal Election Commission email notified compliance firms that public-facing services were temporarily suspended due to a bad actor attempting to breach agency systems.
- ▪The Federal Election Commission's electronic filing system was taken offline
Impact on campaign finance disclosures
- ▪The system outage prevents political organizations and campaigns from electronically submitting mandatory 24-hour and 48-hour campaign spending disclosures.
- ▪MBA Consulting Group CEO Steven Mele stated that he had not seen a similar filing shutdown in 26 years, noting it reduces election spending disclosure until fixed.
- ▪An automated Federal Election Commission email informed campaigns that no fines will be issued for late filings provided reports are submitted within 24 hours after system restoration.
- ▪OpenSecrets research director Brendan Glavin stated the outage temporarily prevents voters from tracking final campaign expenditures and donor sources right before the midterms.
No impact on voting administration
- ▪Federal Election Commission officials and experts confirmed the agency does not administer elections or voting equipment, so the outage does not impact ballot casting.
- ▪Democratic Federal Election Commission Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum stated on X that the outage did not affect voter registration or voter files and that staff were restoring systems.
Record campaign spending before midterms
- ▪The 2026 US midterm elections reached a record $11.21 billion spent on advertising and reservations, surpassing the $11.2 billion total from the 2024 elections, according to AdImpact.
- ▪Super PACs and dark money groups spent an average of over $50 million per day during the week preceding October 27, 2026, according to OpenSecrets.
- ▪More than $250 million in campaign spending was reported on October 20, 2026 alone, according to OpenSecrets research director Brendan Glavin.
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