The stroke of a black pen from Hamilton County Board of Elections official caused major problems in one of the nation's highest-profile congressional races.

Now the official who blacked out the spending information will lose two weeks vacation time as punishment, members of the Hamilton County Board of Elections told The Enquirer.

It appears that may be the only consequence for the redaction involving the campaign of Democrat Aftab Pureval. The candidate himself told The Enquirer Tuesday that he didn't penalize anyone on his staff, though he did chastise them.

Sally Krisel, Deputy Director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, lost two of her six weeks of vacation for redacting the memo lines of four checks.

The checks came from the campaign of Pureval, the Democratic candidate who's running against U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood in Ohio's 1st Congressional District.

One of the checks, for $16,000, paid for a congressional poll. Written in the memo line and later blacked out were two words, "poll balance."

In an emotional hearing in September, Krisel apologized, saying she redacted the lines at the request of Pureval's campaign manager, Sarah Topy.

"I had a black pen. I did it, and I said go file it," Krisel said at the September hearing.

The loss of two weeks vacation is a substantial punishment, said Board of Elections chairman Tim Burke, a Democrat.

Krisel could cash the unused vacation in at the end of the year. It would be worth about $4,500 to Krisel, whose yearly salary is $118,000.

"It's a significant financial loss," Burke said.

Two Democrats and two Republicans make up the Hamilton County Board of Elections membership. The director and deputy director are also from opposing parties.

Krisel is a Democrat. Republicans won't call for further punishment of Krisel, said Alex Triantafilou, Hamilton County GOP chairman and member of the board of elections. Punishment of any elections staff member is up to that person's political party, he said.

"We have a long-standing practice of allowing party leaders to reprimand personnel and would expect similar treatment in return," Triantafilou said. "It is a way for this bipartisan board to work together."

What did Pureval do?

The redactions also didn't lead to anyone getting fired from Pureval's campaign staff, Pureval told The Enquirer on Tuesday. Pureval said he rebuked his staff.

"The redaction issue was unacceptable," Pureval said. "I've talked to my team, and they know it was unacceptable."

The questions remain about whether Pureval improperly spent money from his clerk of courts campaign account for his congressional account. That matter is before the Ohio Elections Commission.