Illinois State Board of Elections executive director Steve Sandvoss was relegated to the sidelines during the recent April 6 consolidated elections.
Just hours before voters were set to go the polls, state election officials unanimously voted to put Sandvoss on paid administrative leave after he was forced to admit he’d been the target of an online extortion scheme.
Authorities later described their actions as a “cautionary step” that came "out of an abundance of caution."
For the last six-years, Sandvoss has reigned as the state’s top election official overseeing all state elections. Prior to that, he served more than a decade as the election board's general legal counsel.
So far, state officials have not revealed much about what prompted Sandvoss being made a target or what the scheme consisted of other than to say it seems typical as online scams go and "there is no reason to believe that any election data or information has been compromised" even though the attempted scam took place right before an election.
State police said their investigation into the matter is ongoing. Early on in his tenure as executive director, in a massive hack, Russians were able to steal the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Illinois voters.
In his current post, Sandvoss earns $162,000, while the Illinois State Board of Directors is an independent state agency that consists of four Democrats and four Republicans.
In Sandvoss’ absence, the board installed Assistant Executive Director Bernadette Matthews in the role of acting director.
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