The Illinois State Board of Elections will decide next week whether it should follow a hearing officer’s recommendation and reject state Senate President Don Harmon’s appeal of a nearly $10 million fine for accepting campaign contributions in excess of state campaign finance limits.

The board at its Tuesday meeting will consider the recommendation of Northbrook attorney Barbara Goodman, who heard arguments from Harmon’s attorney on Aug. 20 and found last week that Harmon’s campaign committee “failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the assessment was in error or that no actual violation of (the law) occurred.”

At issue is an Illinois election law, which Harmon co-sponsored, aimed at curbing the influence of big money in political campaigns and one key provision that

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