By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Now, more than ever, cybersecurity’s vital at the Illinois State Board of Elections.

The new executive director, Bernadette Matthews, takes over after the retirement last year of Steve Sandvoss, who apparently got the attention of cybercriminals via phone or computer and, as a result, reported he was a victim of an extortion attempt.

“I think that it highlights just the security risk that any sort of statewide election official faces, and it’s something that reflects the risks that we’re all seeing, either in cybersecurity or in election integrity,” Matthews says, “so for me, it’s that every day coming to the office understanding that there is a higher responsibility and duty” to be cybersafe.

The election board a few years ago survived a breach without giving up voter information.

Matthews is an attorney who previously was the board’s assistant executive director. The board oversees more than 100 local jurisdictions. She says Illinois is uniquely “bottom-up” in a structure in which most of the voter registration and election activity is done at the local level.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]