Illinois State Board Of Elections Executive Director Steve Sandvoss Placed On Leave After He Reported Being Victim Of Extortion Scam

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections has been placed on administrative leave, just one day before several cities hold their municipal elections.

The eight members of the board voted unanimously Monday to put Steve Sanndvoss on administrative leave after he reported being the victim of an online extortion attempt last week.

Sandvoss reported it to Illinois State Police, which has launched an investigation. The board reported the attempted extortion scheme appeared typical of many similar online scams.

The Board of Elections has decided to place Sandvoss on leave out of an abundance of caution.

An internal audit is being done of all board of elections devices to which Sandvoss had access.

At this point, the board said, there is no reason to believe any election data or information have been compromised.