FEC filing outage interrupts campaign finance disclosures

The Federal Election Commission’s electronic filing system went offline shortly before the November 3 midterm elections, interrupting the submission of time-sensitive campaign finance disclosures. The agency said its information technology staff were working to restore service, while previously filed reports remained searchable online. The outage began late Monday, October 26, according to the FEC’s status information. It prevented political committees and other organizations from submitting mandatory reports on certain contributions and independent expenditures, including accelerated 24-hour and 48-hour disclosures tied to spending in individual races. Those filings provide information about political spending during the closing stretch of campaigns. An FEC electronic filings officer told campaign-compliance firms in an email that a bad actor was attempting to breach agency systems and that web-facing services had been temporarily shut down as a result. The FEC’s public notices confirmed the filing system was offline but did not publicly confirm the attempted breach or identify a cause. The agency also did not say whether any intrusion succeeded or information was accessed....