I’ve been reading my voter’s guide for the upcoming primary election and marveling at the number of candidate statements that are plagued by misspellings, voice inconsistencies, bad grammar and punctuation, and other distracting errors!
After finding more than two mistakes in a candidate’s statement, I’ll skip ahead to consider the next candidate. I don’t want to be represented by an official who lacks the professionalism and courtesy of proofreading! Here are a few blunders:
- “But we can turn that around to protect our children’s’ future by generating more revenues through sustainable uses of these properties.”
- “… Washingtonians of all political persuasions will be assured that their vote carry the same weight as all other votes and is handled in a manner that protects their vote from hacking, loss or damage, and fraud.”
- “James spent his summers in the Yakima Valley working in the fields James was taught strong work ethics from a very young age, advocates for Children and Families, someone who will stand and defend your Constitutional Rights.”
- “Excessive use of force about police in this state is what we hear all to often .”
In public debate or impromptu comment, one might expect and overlook language errors. These candidates may be qualified, earnest, and deserving but they discredit themselves with sloppy written statements that instead suggest them to be ignorant, lazy, or arrogant.
Editing could have earned these candidates more votes!