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The
eight-member elections board voted unanimously on Monday to
place Director Steve Sandvoss on leave, according to the
release.
The board also approved the appointment of Assistant Executive
Director Bernadette Matthews to serve as interim director while
Sandvoss is on leave.
“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,” the
release states.
Sandvoss reported the online extortion attempt to the Illinois
State Police, which is investigating the incident, according to
the release.
“Based on Director Sandvoss' description, the attempted
extortion scheme appeared typical of many such online scams,”
the release states. “At this time, there is no reason to believe
that any election data or information has been compromised.”
Matt Dietrich, spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of
Elections, did not say what specific day the incident occurred.
Dietrich said he was not aware of the details about the timing
of initial police contact or the investigation beyond what was
in the news release.
Dietrich said the agency has no comment about the incident’s
timing in close proximity to the election.
A spokesperson for the Illinois State Police did not respond to
questions about details surrounding the online extortion
attempt, saying it is an open and ongoing investigation.
Sandvoss became the Illinois State Board of Elections’ executive
director in January 2015, after serving as the agency’s general
counsel.
He has worked for the agency since 1988.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service
covering state government and distributed to more than 400
newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois
Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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