Several 2020 Dems’ Spanish-language sites contain typos or grammatical errors: analysis

Several Democratic presidential candidates’ Spanish-language websites aimed at Latino voters contain typos or grammatical errors, according to an analysis by Politico.

The analysis found that the errors suggested the use of a translation service, such as Google Translate, rather than a fluent human speaker. For example, Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-Minn.) site uses a masculine adjective in reference to her mother, Politico reported. Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro’s website refers to “América,” which in Spanish refers to the whole American continent.

{mosads}The publication also found several candidates did not have any Spanish-language site, including South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.); and businessman Andrew Yang. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) only translated their campaign sites’ landing pages to Spanish.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), meanwhile, had only minor typographical errors on their sites, according to the publication.

Sen. Kamala Harris’s (D-Calif.) website misuses the verb “gastar,” resulting in the claim that Harris has “wasted” her life in defense of democracy, as first observed in January by former congressional staffer Frederick Velez III, who said the errors suggest insufficient commitment to Latino voters.

“As Latinos we have to DEMAND that these things not happen, that they put the same care into their Spanish website as they do for their English version,” Velez tweeted in January.

As Latinos we have to DEMAND that these things not happen, that they put the same care into their Spanish website as they do for their English version. It took me one visit to the website see the error, how hard can it really be to hire Latinos?!? We are everywhere!

— Frederick Velez III (@frederickvIII) January 21, 2019

The publication also notes, however, that the Spanish on Harris’ site has since improved, and the grammatical error was corrected after Velez pointed it out. The grammar on Harris’ site has since improved, according to Politico, and she provided real-time translation at a March 1 town hall in Nevada.

“It’s the front door to the campaign. And it’s indicative,” Lisa Navarrete, an adviser at Latino advocacy organization UnidosUS, told Politico.  “If you’re not investing in this … it will indicate to us that perhaps you’re not taking the other parts of reaching out to the community as seriously.”

The Hill has reached out to each of the candidates for comment.