For the second time in 14 months, state Sen. Ray Miller has been fined by the Ohio Elections Commission for failing to accurately account for his campaign's spending.

Miller, a Columbus Democrat and 24-year legislative veteran, was fined $1,000 this afternoon by the bipartisan seven-person panel. However, two of the three alleged election-law violations filed by the secretary of state were dismissed.

Votes on all three were 4 to 1; two Democratic members recused themselves from the case.

Board Chairman Chuck Calvert, a former GOP legislator from Medina, voted against the fine, saying it was not strong enough.

"It also concerns me that Sen. Miller was elected minority leader in the Senate and was involved with other candidates. He was a leader, and in my opinion he did not set a very good example as a leader of other candidates," Calvert said.

Miller's attorney, Donald J. McTigue, said he is satisfied with today's ruling, noting that all of the senator's campaign finance reports are now accurate and have been filed.

Miller, who did not attend the hearing, has made about $11,000 in reimbursements to his campaign committee for payments to himself that could not be documented and for apparent overpayments to three credit-card companies, according to his attorney.

This latest punishment once again relates to Miller's failure to file complete and accurate campaign-finance reports dating back to 2002.

The secretary of state's office said Miller did not verify almost 40 checks written to him from his campaign totaling $16,207. Fourteen of those checks, the complaint said, included no underlying documentation to support the expenditure.

Miller cashed some checks from his campaign committee before the expense was incurred, the complaint said.

Miller also was accused of failing to reconcile credit-card purchases paid by the committee, making it appear he double-reimbursed himself for some expenses.

The Ohio Elections Commission in February 2008 fined Miller $1,500 fine for failing to file accurate reports. The secretary of state's office was critical of the punishment, calling it "extremely light."

Miller has said a number of receipts and documents related to his campaign were inadvertently destroyed when his private business moved to a new location. He also has said there were problems with turnover among his campaign treasurers.

Even after filing this latest election complaint in February, the secretary of state's office sent another audit letter to Miller trying to get explanations for additional discrepancies in his reports.

However, both McTigue and the commission's executive director, Philip C. Richter, were not anticipating the filing of additional complaints.