WUI (Writing under the influence)

I've received an apology from City Recorder regarding a misspelling in my name on the ballot. The explanation doesn't make sense because I either spell my name "Krystof" or "Krzysztof" but never "Krzystof" or "Krysztof". So it seems somebody had used my legal name, noticed the mistake and when correcting only removed one Z. Not a big deal. I complained only because I like giving them hard time.

This is the apology:

Dear Mr. Zmudzinski,

Your concern was brought to my attention this morning by Washington County Elections. Please accept my sincere apology for causing this error. During the certification process of your name, your name was unintentionally misspelled, adding a z in error; even though the process includes submittal of your filing, County Elections takes the information directly from the letter of certification and not the filing form. The ballot device detects some common mistakes, but unfortunately did not detect this one. In verifying with County Elections, they do not feel this would cause confusion to voters, because your name is listed correctly in the voters’ pamphlet and will not change any votes cast for you. Also, the uniqueness of your name in the Forest Grove area should not cause confusion to voters. We also plan to do a press release in our local paper clarifying the error. Now that we are aware that County Elections takes the information from the certification letter and not the filing form, we will have second person verification on the certification letter before it is submitted to County Elections. It is our sincere hope that you will accept this heartfelt and sincere apology on my behalf. If I can be of any assistance, please call me. Thank you.


Anna D. Ruggles, City Recorder
City of Forest Grove
PO Box 326
Forest Grove, OR 97116-0326
Phone: 503.992.3235
Fax: 503.992.3207
E-mail: aruggles@ci.forest-grove.or.us