Karen you sure are a bad reporter to write this story without checking your facts -- as you yourself say!!! Did you even bother to batinick or just reprint his blog? At least you corrected some of the mistakes from the original version. Isn't Blackburn winning all kinds of awards for transparency?

"This information could not be verified by Patch on Thursday night but would be Friday." Wow. Sounds like you just pasted directly from a blog without doing your homework. Last night's headline said he didn't file, now today the same story says he did. Maybe Patch could get your facts in order before you run a story.

Really disappointed in the (low) level of "journalism" with this story.

"This information could not be verified by Patch"

What justification is there for printing unverified information?

Nice to see you keeping the same low standards.

The complaint was verified. The campaign disclosure records were verified. I wanted to give Mr. Blackburn a chance to respond, which he did. However, in last night's story, I felt it necessary to be upfront about the fact that I could not verify what he said but wanted his comments to be included in the story. This morning I have verified his account, and the story has been updated. That Mr. Blackburn is in good standing does not erase the fact that a challenge has been filed.

I think we are missing the point here. Mr. Blackburn acknowledged that he filed his campaign forms to the Board of Elections incorrectly. That's why he had to submit the proper forms late! Now how in God's name can we expect him to properly audit Will County Government when he can't even audit his own campaign filings? The answer is WE CAN'T!

I just spoke with Jenny Ronimous with the State Board of Elections at 217-782-4141. No A-1's as required by law were filed. After a quarterly report is filed, a candidate is ineligible to file an A-1 from that period. The link to his disclosures show that NO A-1 has been filed.

http://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?id=21223

I am confident that Mr. Blackburn will be found in violation of campaign finance disclosure law. Actually, he admits it in the article. Even if he did file an A-1 on July 16, which he did not he merely filed his quarterly report, he violated the law. The contributions in question were from June 19 and June 29. July 16 beyond the period allowed to file an A-1.

Our hearing is set for August 8, 2012. I have spoken to the state board of elections several times. Expect a press release Aug. 9th confirming that the Auditor was in violation.

There is no grace late period for this hard and fast election law and candidates know it. Not filing within the 5 day period is BREAKING THE LAW. Candidates have had major fines for this. It's not difficult to file the paperwork online, but I'm pretty dissappointed that the current auditor is not competent enough to adhere to the basic well known rules. And the fact that he is his own chair and treasurer shows a lack of good sense. He may get away with it without a fine on a first time offense, but the election official never said he didn't break the law. I just checked the state board of elections website, http://www.elections.il.gov/campaigndisclosure/CommitteeDetail.aspx?id=21223
His A-1 filing did not include the loans, but they appear much later on the quarterly report, well outside the 5 day requirement by law. This shows the original story was 100% spot on true. Blackburn is not telling the truth when he said Batinick's information is incorrect. It is. Blackburn would have been better off to admit the truth and move on.

Is this a paid advertisement for Bitinick? If the facts are, indeed, unsubstantiated there will be Trouble in River City with a capital T that rhymes with D that stands for Defamation.

No way I would ever vote for Mark Batinick - period. Regardless of a mistake or late filing, Blackburn has my vote all the way.

"Tom Newman, deputy director of campaign disclosure, said Blackburn did file his A-1 forms late, thereby breaking the law"

This is the most important sentence of the article. The director of campaign disclosure clearly states that Blackburn broke the campaign finance diclosure law. I dispute the fact that an A-1 was filed. He did file a quarterly report. But that is not an A-1. I would suggest that there may have been some confusion between the author of the article and the ISBE regarding this. When I spoke with Jenny Ronimous at the ISBE she clearly stated NO A-1 has been filed.

It looks like Mr. Batinick is grasping at straws for a campaign issue. If this is the best he can do he is going to lose in November.

Mark Batinick is going to a new low in local politics. What a poor way to campaign against someone and people wonder why we're sick of politics.

Mark Batinick is doing what he has done locally for years, and what he will do as auditor - audit! He finds fraud, waste and illegal activity like a bloodhound! Unlike Blackburn who removed the anonamous fraud and waste hotline when he got in, Batinick will reinstate it immediately and keep it there. Batinick will expose wrong doing regardless of party. In fact he goes after wrong doing in his own party even harder. He has repeatedly exposed wrong doers in his own party. He is principled and will hold everyone accountable. If you want the auditor job to be done and done well, get to know Batinick and you'll know he is THE best choice for Will County.

From the article: "Tom Newman, deputy director of campaign disclosure, said Blackburn did file his A-1 forms late, thereby breaking the law"

Should we ignore when elected officials, especially the Will County Audtior, break the campaign finance law? Are you really an independent or someone trying to cover the fact, as stated in the article, that the current Auditor broke the law?

Blackburn broke the law and Batinick reports it is a new low? Plainfield Independent, you're obviously in the tank for Blackburn. What's worse is that instead of just admitting it and moving on, Blackburn is lying by saying that it's not true, when the evidence is clearly on the ISBE website and the ISBE director confirms that the law was broken. You don't want an auditor that reports violations in law? You dont' want a fastedious and detail oriented auditor? You don't want an auditor that reports the truth to the people he serves? Then what is the point of having an auditor? That's sad.

God I hate today's politics. I miss the old days of political battle that wasn't fought on local message boards, but done the manly way: pistol duel at dawn.

The CPA, MBA, MVP, MICKEY, MOUSE, didn't report the loans to his campaign? The article mentioned that not filing an A-1 is a common mistake. So, he should be stripped of his awards. There is nothing laudable in a man so clearly accomplished making a mistake someone without such praise would make. Furthermore, I would like to send a letter to the selection committee asking it to resend this prestigious award and give it to the CPA who didn't try to hide his campaign contributions. It would save his sycophants a lot of trouble and time stumbling to his defense.

"Tom Newman, deputy director of campaign disclosure, said Blackburn did file his A-1 forms late, thereby breaking the law..." If my accountant made that mistake, he wouldn't be my accountant anymore. He broke the law and no way did he file his A-1 "late". If one is produced at the hearing, look out! Something is rotten in Denmark. Check the statute. Sorry, folks. Disappointing but true. Lies and spin don't erase lawlessness. Your guy should show some integrity and admit he violated the law.

A Board of Elections challenge like this IS a legitimate news story, especially when it involves local citizens running for public office. Reporting about it isn't a "new low," it's what should be expected from journalists.

Now that THAT strawman is out of the way, let's focus on the substance of Mr. Batinick's challenge itself. There mere fact that election law was broken may or may not concern the voters, especially if this mistake is indeed common and the Board has precedent for the "one-time amnesty" the Patch cites. However, that is not Mr. Batinick's only contention. If an A-1 was NOT FILED even AFTER the disclosure date AND the subsequent grace period/"amnesty", there is another, far more troubling question Mr. Blackburn must answer. That is the take-away from this story, and that is what the citizens of Plainfield should be considering.

Thank you to the Patch for reporting this story. The trolls who would rather have the public in the dark regarding election proceedings are the ones who deserve to be shamed, not Batinick or the Patch.

First we have a Will County Democrat Chairman who violates the law that caused 8 Democrats to be removed from the ballot. Now we have a Democrat Auditor who violates the law by failing to file the required A-1's. And after getting caught, they have no shame. Time to elect an Auditor who can follow the law: Mark Batinick.

I personally see this article as slanted. If the shoe was on the other foot would Karen Sorenson be as nice to Mr. Batinick?

I am eager to hear what the ruling is as to the auditor of the year's alleged campaign finance disclosure fraud accusation. An auditor of all elected officials should have their filing done right thr FIRST TIME!

I wonder what has been missed within his official capacity as auditor that he may need to re-file...

The Illinois Democrat Party left me. They are radical and full of pay to play nepotism. It's funny how most of their candidates get appointed and "chosen by leadership" vs. allowing us Democrat primary voters the right to choose. So this is what living in Moscow during the early 80's felt like?

I lean towards Republican, but Blackburn's got my vote.

Obviously those that feel that what Batinick did was wrong, don't know what an auditor does or is supposed to do. It is not just about posting checkbooks online. It is about being the watchdog for taxpayers. How can someone who can't even "keep his own house in order" be the eyes of the people. Politicians are supposed to be above the law, but the grand majority obviously are not. If Blackburn was new to this job, it would be a different story but come on people, he should know better. He has been doing this job long enough to know the law and should have had someone filing these important forms for him. Obviously he is not prudent and as an auditor, that is what we would want.

Seems to me that we owe Mr. Mark Batinik a thank you for being a watchdog for the taxpayers of will county. I'm sorry to say that it does not give me a lot of trust going forward that if he did such a careless mistake in a election year, what will happen when no one is watching?

If Mark is a watchdog for taxpayers, I'd like to see him list other local governmental bodies where he has stopped or voiced his concerns of excessive spending. A question to Mark - what local governmental bodies in and around Plainfield/Will County have excessive waste and spending?

Let me get this straight. There is a state law that requires filing withing 5 days. Duffy claims he filed 27 days late in one instance and 17 days late in another, due to being "busy with family and work", which is in violation of the state law. Mark sees there is no record with the State Board of Elections that Duffy had filed, and files a complaint. And somehow some people have issue with Mark? We need more people seeing rules are followed in politics. Sounds like a good quality of an auditor. And forgetting and being too "busy" to follow rules does not sound like a good quality to be an auditor.

If the board is aware of it and issued a warning why is there going to be a hearing? That seems like a waste of taxpayer money.

What's worse, making a harmless mistake or grandstanding on the tax payers dime?

Karen you say you never met either man and the problem readers have is you ran the original story without talking to them either. You just reprinted a candidates blog. That's not reporting that's just typing ; just xeroxing. No wonder marks camp applauds you. You gave them free advertising no fact checking. I'm sick of the dirty politics mark Andrew and cry baby Crenshaw play. I've never met Blackburn either but he gets my vote. I can see how every penny is spent from my living room.

Mark - what other local governmental bodies have wasteful spending? This is a simple question and as a watchdog, one you should easily be able to identify.

maybe it takes him a little longer to catch on. I mean he still hasn't figured out that Peck put him up to strengthen Peck's Senate run while Mark has little to no chance to win county wide. I have to give Peck credit, he really knows how to pull the strings on his puppets.

You should know better than anyone since you were used for the same purpose. There is a reason Peck is still running in Nov and you are not. If you didn't know or understand what your role was it isn't my job to explain it to you. For the record it's a very old and commonly used tactic. Cui bono

I'm not knocking Peck, he knows what he is doing and he is doing it masterfully, I just didn't realize the rest you weren't in on it. If you did know you probably wouldn't work as hard. So it his to his benefit to keep you in the dark.

JeffK

Please enlighten us with your conspiracy theory about Peck and Batinick. Mooooowwwahhhhaaaaa!!! Scary. Spooooookkkkyyyy!

Being a chump isn't a conspiracy.

The question isn't what Mark has done to expose waste. He has several written articles, speeches, town halls, conservative candidates, and even Republicans who don’t like him that can corroborate the fact that Mark is a very vocal watchdog for the taxpayer on many fronts. The incumbent should be telling us what material things he has done to expose waste and corruption. After all, that's why WE PAY HIM. So far, he has proven all the designations after his name means nothing because he broke the law - lame excuse or not. Mark has five kids, a business, and is running for office. He filed his forms correctly, on time, AND still found Blackburn's failure. I know it pains Mark’s detractors to hear it but that is what an AUDITOR does.

Those of you who are going to vote for the incumbent are going to do it no matter which laws he breaks. It is strange that people are so quick to jump to the defense of the guy who broke the law and not the person who reported it as if he forced Duffy to break the law. We live in a society where people would rather defend wrong at any cost for political gain than just let truth mete out. Like it or not, omitting the A-1 is still breaking the law. Stating his A-1 was "filed late" knowing the ISBE does not permit it is lying. So, not only is Duffy a law breaker, he is a liar. I wouldn't vote for either a law breaker or a liar for Will County Auditor. Nope, not sending the garden snake to audit the cobras. One more vote for Batinick.