In the heat of an election campaign, almost anything can – and will – be seized upon as a “gaffe”.

If not by the media, certainly by the opposing party.

Vague commitments, half-hearted U-turns and slips of the tongue are ever scrutinised – but if you’re going to stuff up, it always helps not to do so in writing.

Given the amount of time and resources put into snaring every potential vote, it’s startling to note some of the pearlers that have made their way onto candidates’ glossy mailouts and advertisements this campaign – and this is only the South Australian contingent!

This flyer from Labor frontbencher Kate Ellis sticks to the script in terms of investing in education, healthcare and jobs – but misses the mark in one crucial facet: the name of her Adelaide electorate is misspelt.

Sure, just a slip of the typewriter key – but surely when you’re Shadow Minister for Education and Early Childhood, it’s best to be able to spot the difference between “Adelaide” and “Adealide“.

Not that Ellis has time to proofread everything that goes out under her name, of course. It’s all done centrally, and authorised by the party’s state office.

And neither party is immune to typos.

His party may be in Government, but Jamie Briggs’ campaign evidently didn’t have the time or resources to cast a glance over this ad, despite likely having paid a mint to take out the space.

It’s unclear whose handwriting penned the central claim that the Mayo MP is “Devliering“for the Hills seat, nor indeed what “devliering” actually means – but with polls suggesting the former minister faces an uphill battle to be returned, he may not be devliering for the electorate after tomorrow night.

Not that Briggs is alone in having his name attached to material with dodgy spelling.

His fellow Liberal aspirant David Colovic enthuses about the Government’s commitment to “Heath” – an oblique reference to one-time UK Tory PM Ted Heath, perhaps? Still, probably preferable to misspell “health” than the subsequent policy priority – Education.

The most egregious typo, though, comes from the Labor candidate for the southern suburbs seat of Boothby, recently vacated by incumbent Andrew Southcott.

Where to start with this one?

After spruiking the benefits of “a better education”, this leaflet then highlights the pitfalls of a worse one, promising Labor will deliver “a fair shair for all”.

Beyond being hideously misspelt, the pledge appears out of all context, illustrated as it is by an image of a train (or is it a bus?) but with the corresponding text enthusing about Labor’s promised royal commission into the financial sector.

The pictures were shared on social media by 7 News Adelaide’s political reporter Mike Smithson, who told InDaily he noticed one leaflet error, and having tweeted a photo of it he suddenly started receiving others from anonymous party informants.

“I’m assuming the origin of it was one side trying to get one-upmanship on the other,” he surmised.

“I always find it interesting how in the last gasp of a campaign… these sorts of mistakes are made.”

Guilty as charged I'm afraid-but clearly I'm not alone… pic.twitter.com/2BbozpgY2O

— Kate Ellis (@KateEllis22) June 30, 2016

Smithson likened it to a gaffe that is still legend in state political circles – when a policy document for former Liberal Premier Rob Kerin’s re-election campaign in 2002 was emblazoned with a heading lauding the record of “Ron Kerin’s Team”.

Although Smithson recalls that error was notable for happening on “the first day of the campaign”.

“Things like this just devalue their entire credibility,” he told InDaily.

“It’s their name that goes on what’s published.”

“Ron” Kerin and his team in 2006. Photo: Rob Hutchison / AAP

Another name tucked away on two of the four offending brochures is that of ALP state secretary Reggie Martin, who copped the errors on the chin, noting: “Everyone makes mistakes.”

“It’s just what happens when you put out a million words – one or two are going to be wrong,” he said.

“It’s not ideal but it’s a bit pedantic to worry about these sorts of things rather than about job cuts or privatising Medicare.”

Worth noting on that score that Malcolm Turnbull this morning told ABC radio that “Medicare is absolutely guaranteed and every single element of Medicare services – every aspect of its services that is undertaken by Government today – will be undertaking by Government in the future”.

Worth noting also that we can’t delvier a response from Martin’s opposite number, as Liberal state director Sascha Meldrum did not respond to InDaily‘s inquiry.

*Yes, it was deliberate…