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* It might be helpful if the board would tell Illinoisans if this had anything to do with his job or whether it was on his own time…
This comes a little over two weeks after that board placed him on administrative leave after he reported being the victim of an online extortion attempt.
— Rachel Hinton (@rrhinton) April 20, 2021
I mean, the guy has (or had) a security clearance. The board’s website was probed by Russian hackers in 2016. A little transparency, perhaps?
More here.
*** UPDATE *** From the board…
Illinois State Board of Elections Executive Director Steve Sandvoss has informed the board that he intends to retire effective June 30.
“We thank Steve for his service to the agency over more than three decades,” said Chair Charles Scholz.
Sandvoss, 55, joined the State Board of Elections in 1988, served as its general counsel from 2004 to 2015 and was named executive director in 2015. He has been on administrative leave since April 5. Acting Executive Director Bernadette Matthews has led the Board of Elections in the interim and will continue as head of the agency until a permanent director is named.
Director Sandvoss’ administrative leave was related to a personal online extortion attempt against him that he reported to the Illinois State Police. In response to these events, the board immediately ordered an internal investigation by its chief information security officer. The investigation revealed that no SBE data or systems had been compromised in the incident.
The State Board of Elections is an independent state agency charged with the responsibility of having general supervision over the administration of election laws of the State of Illinois. Elections are administered locally by the State’s 108 election authorities.
Thanks. That’s better.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 1:23 pm
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Even if it were 100% on his own time I would expect complete and absolute disclosure of the specifics of he were to retain the position going forward, including details on what the basis for the extortion attempt was.
With retirement I do not think I that I, or the public at large, need to know the details to that extent and am happy to say he reported the extortion attempt which was the right thing to do and retirement after being compromised is the right thing to do.
Whatever lapse of judgement he made should be used as a cautionary tale and people should try to recognize that for almost all honeypot schemes that can be conducted online there are literally reliable and relatively private websites that are better alternatives than responding to messages from “random women” on social media.
Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 1:36 pm
So did Sandvoss get Sandacked?
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:03 pm
Maybe now is also a good time to ask what the heck happened with the hack at the Attorney General’s office, why their email is still down, and why the public hasn’t been updated.
Comment by Watcher of the Skies Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:05 pm
A little transparency, yes a lot.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:05 pm
FOIA?
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:06 pm
This is interesting. Extortion implies someone is holding something he did, likely in his private life, over his head. What I see here is he is trying to protect his family from getting dragged into whatever this may be, as well as tarnishing the reputation of his department even if the event in question has nothing to do with the department.
I’m much more interested here in who is doing the extorting, than whatever he may have done. In the bigger picture, there has been a rapid increase in what I can best define as weaponized electronic warfare in the political sphere. I don’t mean the usual nonsense of politicians suing their constituents, this is something that is coming to a head in multiple places and escalating to what are illegal acts - extortion is illegal no matter how true the underlying details might be. Similarly, impersonating someone online with the intent to defraud or gain benefit is also illegal, since about 2012 in Illinois. This seems to be another increasing tactic being used in the current political battles.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:18 pm
It appears this explanation has struck a nerve.
Comment by AlfondoGonz Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:26 pm
In the last couple of years the Director and General Counsel of the Board “retire” and we get no public explanation? What are they hiding over there? JB really needs to do something to reform that place. It’s a mess!
Comment by curious Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:32 pm
who is doing the extorting,
Depending on who they were, it might be impossible short of Fed investigation. And it’s entirely possible (perhaps even likely) they are overseas.
Comment by Fav Human Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:36 pm
“A little transparency, perhaps?”
Нет, здесь не на что смотреть.
Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 2:40 pm
“Everything has a price”…is another popular Russian saying.
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 3:24 pm
Well, it may be “related to a personal extortion attempt” but aren’t they all? Transparency apparently doesn’t come easy for JB’s administration. This guy was making big bucks and retired over this debacle. Let’s hear the facts.
Comment by Law Man Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 5:51 pm
===for JB’s administration===
LOL
The board is quasi independent and this dude predates Pritzker.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Apr 20, 21 @ 5:53 pm
Agree with Invisible Man.
This is happening on many levels to many people perpetrated by institutions and others.
While being extorted … there is no protection. We live in a blame the accused society.
We the public point and say the extorted must be on the other team. Let him suffer.
Comment by dave ristau Wednesday, Apr 21, 21 @ 2:01 am