A suspected cyberattack has prompted the temporary shutdown of web-facing services at the United States Federal Election Commission (FEC) as a hacker attempts to breach the agency’s systems.

The development raises concerns over the security of the agency’s online operations weeks before the US midterm elections.

The commission’s electronic filing system was offline, with information technology staff working to restore the service.

A status notice from the commission indicated that the filing system had been down since around 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, October 26, corresponding to 2 a.m. GMT on Tuesday.

The commission did not immediately provide further details about the suspected breach or the extent of the disruption.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had not immediately provided comments on the incident.

The FEC administers federal campaign finance laws and oversees disclosure of money raised and spent by candidates and political committees in US federal elections.

The incident comes ahead of the November 3, 2026, midterm elections, when voters will elect members of Congress and participate in other federal, state and local contests.

It remains unclear whether the attempted breach resulted in unauthorised access to the commission’s systems or whether any data was compromised.