A week before the U.S. midterm elections, the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) electronic filing system was targeted by hackers, according to an email seen by Reuters, as “super PAC” committees and dark money groups are spending record sums in the final days of campaigning.
The FEC posted a status update announcing that its electronic filing system had been offline since 10pm local time on Monday.
“At this time, the FEC’s electronic filing system is currently offline and our IT staff are actively working to restore service,” the commission said in a statement.
“We have a bad actor attempting to breach FEC systems. As a result, we’ve had to temporarily shut down our web-facing services,” an FEC electronic filings officer said in an email to several campaign compliance firms that night.
At 8pm local time on Tuesday, a new status update confirmed that the issue had been identified and was being resolved.
The outage does not affect the U.S. elections or voters’ ability to cast their ballots. The FEC’s electronic filing system tracks spending by candidates and political committees.
However, the disruption prevents organisations from submitting the FEC’s 24-hour and 48-hour spending reports, which provide information on how much political groups and other organisations are spending on specific races.
“These are the key reports that tell us what is happening,” Glavin said. “In the last days of the election this is the only way for us to keep track of where the money’s being spent” and who is spending it.
The midterm elections have become the most expensive in U.S. history, with approximately $11.21 billion spent on political advertising and future ad reservations so far, according to political advertising tracker AdImpact.
The figure has surpassed the previous record set during the 2024 elections, when $11.2 billion was spent across all races, including $3.2 billion on the presidential contest between Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris, AdImpact said.
Much of the spending has been driven by super PACs, which can accept unlimited contributions from wealthy individuals and corporations and spend large sums on political campaigns, subject to certain restrictions.
Super PACs and dark money groups have spent an average of more than $50 million per day over the past week, according to Brendan Glavin, research director at the nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. More than $250 million in spending was reported on 20 October alone, he added.
Israel's election appeared headed for a prolonged political standoff on Tuesday after exit polls suggested neither Prime Minister Benjamin Neta...
A week before the U.S. midterm elections, the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) electronic filing system was targeted by hackers, ...
Uzbekistan has launched Apple Pay and Google Pay, allowing customers at several local banks to make contactless payments using their smartphones an...
Russia and Ukraine have begun a regional ceasefire to allow the start of a humanitarian effort in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, both sides said on Tuesday, but they continue strikes elsewhere, including the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Israel's election appeared headed for a prolonged political standoff on Tuesday after exit polls suggested neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, had secured a clear path to a parliamentary majority.
Serbia's Aleksandar Vučić has conceded defeat after a student-led protest movement took the majority of seats in Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Russian strikes hit several parts of Ukraine overnight, injuring at least six people and targeting energy and port infrastructure, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said U.S. warnings about imminent Russian ballistic missile attacks had resumed.
Nearly two years after the 20 October 2024 parliamentary elections, Iraq’s Kurdistan Region remains without a cabinet. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) won 39 of 100 seats and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) 23, leaving neither able to govern alone.
Israel's election appeared headed for a prolonged political standoff on Tuesday after exit polls suggested neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his main challenger, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, had secured a clear path to a parliamentary majority.
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left Brazil for the United States days after losing the presidential election to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside Portugal's parliament on Tuesday to demand action on the country's worsening housing crisis and to protest recent police operations targeting housing activists, as lawmakers opened debate on the government's proposed 2027 budget.
Russia and Ukraine have begun a regional ceasefire to allow the start of a humanitarian effort in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, both sides said on Tuesday, but they continue strikes elsewhere, including the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged gas producers to boost global supplies and invest in infrastructure, while signalling potential energy cooperation with U.S. partners during a major gas summit in Moscow on Tuesday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment