Prairie State Wire

Lake County resident George Weckbacher is sounding the alarm about how easily he thinks it is to corrupt elections in Illinois.

“This is a warning because this is a part of the process, and I found that most of the election jurisdictions around the state don’t have a clue of what’s going on behind the scenes,” he said.  “I found that some jurisdictions have an option to opt out and have somebody contract their canvassing. My concern is if you got an outside contractor and your oversight isn’t very good, how can you certify that these results are good?”

Weckbacher recently met with the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) to express his growing concerns.

“I just want to ensure we have a stable system that’s utilized throughout the state,” he said. “I feel that the State Board of Elections should be monitoring the local jurisdictions with better oversight than what they’re doing.”

The issue of fair and impartial elections has become a burning issue across the country, including here in Illinois where ISBE executive director Steve Sandvoss was placed on paid administrative leave just prior to consolidated elections held on April 6.

Mere hours before voters were slated to flood the polls, Sandvoss revealed he had 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."

Thus far, state officials have been tight-lipped about why they think Sandvoss, who has served in the role of the state’s top election official for the last six years, was targeted and have not said much about what the scheme consisted of other than to say it seemed 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 have indicated their investigation into the matter is ongoing.