State Board of Elections officials said Wednesday that federal officials investigating Russian hacking involving the 2016 election confirmed the state’s initial assessment that 76,000 voters had their personal data compromised — despite a figure of 500,000 voters contained in a recent indictment.

 

State election officials and representatives from the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office talked last week. Their discussion followed Mueller’s July 13 indictment of 13 Russian operatives for alleged hacking.

 

The federal indictment alleged the website of an unnamed state board of elections had been infiltrated and hackers “stole information related to approximately 500,000 voters, including names, addresses, partial Social Security numbers, dates of birth and driver’s license numbers.”

 

But in a letter from Board of Elections Executive Director Steve Sandvoss to Gov. Bruce Rauner, legislative leaders and members of the state’s congressional delegation, the board’s original assessment was validated.

 

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