The Federal Election Commission experienced a filing system outage on Tuesday, hindering candidates and political action committees from filing 24- and 48-hour finance reports with a week to go before the midterm elections.
The FEC posted to its status update page shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday that it is continuing to investigate the outage. According to the commission, the filing system began experiencing issues late Monday evening.
While the system is down for organizations attempting to file spending reports, the FEC website is still working for those tracking spending by candidates and organizations.
The FEC has not disclosed what caused the system outage, but according to an email obtained by Reuters, the mishap is due to a hacking attempt. Hacking attempts are unusual for the FEC, according to Steven Mele, a partner at political finance compliance firm MBA Consulting Group, who spoke with the outlet.
The disruption comes at a particularly consequential time for campaign finance disclosures, with candidates and outside political groups pouring money into competitive races ahead of the Nov. 3 elections. While the filing system outage will not affect voters casting their ballots, it will affect their ability to see updated financial reports from the candidates they are weighing.
Under FEC regulations, PACs and other organizations making independent expenditures are required to submit reports disclosing certain spending within 24 or 48 hours, depending on the amount spent and the proximity to Election Day.
During the final 19 days before an election, independent expenditures totaling $1,000 or more in a particular race trigger a 24-hour reporting requirement. Earlier in the election cycle, expenditures reaching $10,000 generally trigger a 48-hour reporting requirement.
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The disclosures provide a window into last-minute political spending, including how much outside groups are spending to support or oppose candidates and which races are attracting financial attention.
The FEC did not make clear when the electronic filing system would be restored or whether any information had been compromised in the reported hacking attempt.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
