State Board of Elections Chief Placed on Leave
The Illinois State Board of Elections headquarters in Springfield.
The Illinois State Board of Elections has placed Executive Director Steve Sandvoss on administrative leave after he reported being the victim of an online extortion attempt.
In a release Monday, ISBE says Sandvoss reported the potential crime to the Illinois State Police, which is investigating. The state board says the extortion attempt appears “typical of many such online scams.”
However, because this attempt targeted a top official at the Illinois State Board of Elections, and out of an abundance of caution, the board has taken the cautionary step of placing Director Sandvoss on administrative leave. The board authorized Assistant Executive Director Bernadette Matthews to assume directorship at this time.
The board also authorized the agency’s Chief Information Security Officer, Jeremy Owens, to cooperate fully with the law enforcement investigation, as well as conduct an internal assessment of all SBE devices to which Director Sandvoss had access and ensure the security of the Board’s systems.
At this time, there is no reason to believe that any election data or information has been compromised.
Tuesday is an election day around the state, but election results are tabulated by county clerks or local election boards, and not officially administered by the state.