The US Federal Election Commission's (FEC) website was hacked, leading to the disruption of the agency's electronic filings system days before the November 3 elections.

Super PACs and Dark Money: Reuters (Center bias) was the first to report on the hack, saying that the information came from an email seen by the outlet. The article also mentioned a statement by the FEC saying the "electronic filing system is currently offline and our IT staff are actively working to restore service," adding that the system had been down since Monday night. Reuters highlighted that "the hack comes as so-called super PACs and dark money groups spend record sums in the final days of the races."

Majorities In Congress: The Daily Caller (Lean Right) highlighted that "The incident comes one week before the midterm elections, which will determine whether Republicans retain their majorities in Congress for the remainder of President Donald Trump's term." The article also mentioned that "The FEC oversees campaign finance disclosures, not election administration," explaining that "the outage is not expected to affect voters' ability to cast ballots" and adding that "the public can continue searching previously filed reports through the agency's online database."

'Largely Without Power': Outlets on the left like Politico (Lean Left) tended to frame the FEC as an entity that "has been largely without power since last year," explaining that "multiple commissioners departed and President Donald Trump moved to fire now-former FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat, leaving the agency without a quorum." CNBC (Lean Left) also said the outage "hits an already weakened agency," adding that it "has had just two members since October 2025 and has lacked the four commissioners it needs to take official action since May 2025."

RELATED: Fact Check: Are Voting Machines in Tennessee Flipping Votes for Marsha Blackburn?

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Serbia's student-led protest movement defeated longtime political leader Aleksandar Vučić in a snap parliamentary election after two years of demonstrations.

The Movement: Run by the "Students in Blockade" movement, the "Student List - Students Win" is a list of candidates selected by student assemblies to run the government if elected. Students themselves weren't included in the list; the candidates included doctors, university staff, activists, entrepreneurs and others across Serbia. It didn't name a candidate for prime minister. The List won approximately 140 of 250 seats in Serbia's parliamentary election on Oct. 25 with 52.7% of the vote. Vučić conceded the loss on Sunday night. The movement campaigned on three main priorities: fighting corruption, expanding education and innovation, and pursuing economic reforms.

For Context: The Serbian Progressive party (SNS) has governed since 2012. Vučić, a member of SNS, has served as prime minister from 2014 and 2017 and president of Serbia from 2017 until he resigned in Sept. 2026 to participate in the parliamentary election. His government has faced sustained protests after the 2024 Novi Sad railway station collapse, which killed 16 people. The "Students in Blockade" grassroots student movement led anti-corruption protests after the railway collapse. Vučić's government has denied accusations of corruption.

US Involvement: In recent months, Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Bill Keating (D-MA) stepped up efforts to put pressure Vučić. In August, they introduced legislation that called for sanctions and said, "Democracy, rule of law, and anti-corruption must remain key pillars in the U.S.-Serbia bilateral relationship." Last week, days before the election, Wilson requested the Trump administration sanctioned four businessmen with ties to Vučić.

Uncertainty Ahead: Several outlets focused on what's next for the elected leaders. Fox News (Right bias) emphasized uncertainty from Serbian political leaders about the future of its government and foreign relations. It quoted the Vice President of the SNS who said the List "neither a program nor a coherent political ideology. In an essentially anarchic fashion, it opposed everything, claiming to fight for justice and against corruption." She also told Fox that "people may have wanted change…But the grim consequences of this movement in power will soon become apparent." Reuters (Center) wrote, "Now…comes the gritty business of governing" and that next steps "will determine the political stability of Serbia" and its foreign relations. The outlet also outlined uncertainty over whether the candidates can "form a cohesive government" and make the changes it ran on.

A Historic Election: Commentators on PBS (Lean Left) emphasized the historic nature of the movement and that it was run by young people. During the broadcast, Heather Conley from the American Enterprise Institute compared the win to other anti-corruption election wins since 2000, saying "this was truly people power" and that it's a "strike against Russia and China." An analysis in Foreign Policy (Center) argued that Serbia's student protestors deserved a Nobel Prize after it "proved that youth can achieve transformative change through nonviolent political engagement." Both PBS and Foreign Policy framed the movement as a win against Vučić's "corrupt regime," which controlled the majority of governmental power.

Foreign Media: Kremlin-funded RT (Lean Right) highlighted quotes Vučić made on election night in which he called the opposition "the executors of dirty work devised by someone else to bring down a sovereign country" and called out "various European countries and the American deep state." Hungarian Conservative (Lean Right) highlighted that one day after the election, Serbia's regional public broadcaster RTV apologized for having "remained silent, turned a blind eye, provided one-sided information and reported uncritically."

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Two people named Dan Sullivan are running for senate in Alaska's midterm election, prompting a lawsuit from the Justice Department and speculation that this was an attempt to bolster the Democratic candidate's chances of winning. 

The Details: Alaska Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican, is running for reelection against several candidates, including Dan J. Sullivan, who has no party affiliation. The Democratic candidate on the ticket is Mary Peltola. Though Peltola has denied allegations of involvement in his candidacy, New York Times (Lean Left bias) reported that her team recruited Sullivan to run and tried to coax other candidates into the race as well, based on interviews, text messages, and lawsuit documents the outlet reviewed. 

Accusations of Interference: Peltola's former campaign manager Elisa Rios, who was fired in August, told The Times that Peltola was "definitely aware" of her team's involvement in recruiting Sullivan, though she was not directly involved. The Hill (Center) reported on Peltola's campaign's response to the investigation, citing the statement, "The Alaskans for Mary campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign and did not recruit any candidates into the race." The Hill also noted that ballot stacking is a common practice and reported that "both parties have recruited fringe candidates this cycle and in previous years, hoping to siphon off votes."

DOJ Lawsuit and Controversy: The Justice Department sued Alaska election officials and asked a judge to prevent certification of the results if the incumbent Dan S. Sullivan loses due to votes for the unaffiliated Dan J. Sullivan. Fox News (Right) reported the DOJ's filing, which said, "The sole purpose of his candidacy is to benefit the Peltola campaign by reducing the number of votes for Senator Sullivan." Fox also highlighted criticism of Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), whom the outlet called "one of Trump's most prominent adversaries." Schiff accused the DOJ of trying to use its lawsuit to subvert the election, saying, "They don't have standing to bring this kind of a suit. It's not the federal government's business to run Alaskan elections. It's Alaska's business to do that…it just shows how complicit they are now in the Trump campaign to try to subvert the elections."

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Immediately after his electoral defeat, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered conservative presidential candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro to surrender his passports and barred him from leaving the country.

The Details: Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the ruling and said Bolsonaro is under investigation for his links to a money laundering operation. Bolsonaro was ordered to not have any contact with his friend Willer Tomaz, a lawyer linked to the suspected laundering of over $900 million. Bolsonaro, who called for the Sunday vote to be annulled, described the move as "political" and said he believes it is an effort to intimidate him. In the months leading up to the election, Moraes drew criticism and media coverage for his business involvement and alleged collusion with a banker who is under investigation for committing the largest banking fraud scandal in Brazilian history.

Sunday's Election: Brazil's incumbent progressive President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Bolsonaro on Sunday, a result that shocked observers and media outlets across the spectrum. As polls neared closing time, both candidates requested the voting hours be extended for separate reasons. The Supreme Court approved the extension just as polling stations were about to close, meaning some had already closed and could not reopen. Outlets across the spectrum, like The New York Times (Lean Left) and Hungarian Conservative (Lean Right), have highlighted that some election lawyers think the results could be annulled. Supreme Court President Kassio Nunes Marques, who was appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, said the extension did not impact the count or electoral process.

Brazilian Lawfare: Bolsonaro's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced to 27 years in prison last year and banned from running for public office for attempting to hold onto power after he was defeated by Lula in 2022. In 2017, Lula was convicted of corruption but was released from jail after 580 days when the Supreme Court annulled his sentence. Ahead of the election, Lula said he wanted to win the election to keep Jair imprisoned.

How The Media Covered It: Several outlets on the left like Time Magazine (Lean Left), The New York Times, and The Guardian (Left) prominently highlighted Moraes' citation of the money laundering investigation as the reason Bolsonaro's passports were seized. Outlets from the right, like Hungarian Conservative, ZeroHedge (Lean Right), Townhall (Right) and Newsmax (Right), claimed Bolsonaro was being "targeted" and/or highlighted skepticism surrounding the election, including comments from President Trump that it "looked… rigged."

Media Perspectives: American journalist Glenn Greenwald (Center), who is based in Brazil and was charged with 126 felonies in 2020 related to his reporting on lawfare against Lula, offered lots of commentary on X. In one post he wrote, "If Bolsonaro had won last night's election and then a pro-Bolsonaro judge sent the Federal Police to seize Lula's passport and bar him from leaving the country -- every major western media outlet and liberal NGOs would be screaming about the authoritarian attack on Brazil's elections and the destruction of basic freedoms." American Democratic Socialist Twitch streamer Mike From PA responded to one of Greenwald's posts and wrote, "He's a fascist calling the election illegitimate and he's likely to attempt to flee to Miami for crimes. This is totally legitimate law-enforcement activity. Why are you so wrong on this?"

Editor's Note, 10/28/26: This article initially said Bolsonaro was ordered to submit his passport "hours" after his loss, based on a report from The Guardian. A new report from Associated Press (Left) quoted a lawmaker from Bolsonaro's party who claimed he was ordered to forfeit his passports seven minutes after his defeat. The lead has been changed to reflect the headline, using the word "immediately."

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