Paul Atkinson/KJZZ

Computer problems and a website that’s been taken down are causing complications for some Arizona candidates who would like to be publicly funded.

A computer problem - possibly a hack - has resulted in more than a dozen candidates for statewide and legislative office in Arizona facing an unexpected hurdle in their bids for public financing.

Secretary of State spokesman Matt Roberts said the website linked to voter registration data was taken down last week by the Department of Administration, which operates the system.

"The FBI spoke with ADOA and indicated to them that there was a credible and serious threat to our voter registration system," Roberts said. "And the perhaps coincidental infiltration of a piece of malware to one of our county's computers."

Howie Fischer of Capitol Media Services said the Secretary of State’s office may be "snake bit." The website is currently down, which is impacting candidates for public office who use the site to collect donations to qualify for public financing.

Corporation Commission candidate Rick Gray had hoped to reach his goal and then some by now.

"It's been a definite setback for us and I think anybody that hasn't turned them in yet," Gray said.

The Secretary of State’s office hopes the system will be back online by the end of the week after officials check the site for vulnerabilities.