(La Porte County, IN) - The County Election Board is still wrestling with penalties dished out to local candidates for alleged paperwork violations.

In February the Election Board issued fines totaling close to $23,000 to about 30 candidates for various filing violations. While most of those situations have been resolved with reduced fines, two candidates stuck up for themselves on Monday.

Rodney McCormick of Michigan City, with his campaign manager, testified that his paperwork was not late, as alleged. He said he emailed it on time, but county workers did not receive it. McCormick claimed that his due process had been violated, since the fines were given by the board and not a court. He also questioned why the board seemed to backpedal on their process for hearing appeals. Like with many other candidates, the board decided to reduce McCormick’s initial fine of $1,000 to $200.

County Councilman Mike Rosenbaum also testified that he properly filed campaign finance paperwork and shouldn’t be fined at all. The board heard from Rosenbaum and his attorney and decided to take the matter under advisement.