Hacking attempts against the Federal Election Commission take its electronic filing system offline

Reuters reported on October 27, 2026 that a hacker or hackers targeted the US Federal Election Commission website, disrupting the agency's electronic filing system a week before the November 3 elections. The FEC said in a statement that its electronic filing system is currently offline and its IT staff are actively working to restore service, and an FEC status message noted the filing system had been down since around 10:00 PM ET on Monday, October 26. Users can still search the website for past reports. The outage prevents organizations from filing the 24-hour and 48-hour spending reports that disclose spending on specific races.

Sourcing note: this item rests on a single reporting chain, Reuters and its syndications, citing an email seen by Reuters. The FEC has confirmed only that the filing system is offline and declined further comment on the outage, and CISA and the FBI did not immediately return requests for comment. The FEC does not administer US elections, and the outage should have no effect on voters' ability to cast ballots. This item will be updated when independent confirmation or further official detail appears.

Sources: Reuters