I turned 18 in 1972, months after the 26th amendment became part of the constitution. I was invited that year, along with other high school seniors throughout Northern Utah, to attend the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. We learned about the election process, then returned to our schools to share what we had learned and help register voters. This experience instilled in me a love for our constitution and system of government. I have remained informed and involved in our political process ever since.

I never expected to witness the kind of chaos we saw following the election of 2020. January 6, and the resulting congressional hearings that recently took place, reveal weaknesses in the Electoral Count Act of 1887. Updates need to be implemented as soon as possible to prevent another possible constitutional crisis, like the one that occurred when former President Trump tried to pressure Vice President Pence into throwing out the results of the election he lost. I support proposed changes to the ECA that would clarify the electoral count role of the vice president as limited and administrative. Proposed legislation protects state election results and provides security for election and poll workers. Updates should include dispute resolution guidelines for worst-case scenarios.

I appreciate Senator Romney for being part of the bipartisan effort to update the ECA. I call on our other elected representatives to join the nonpartisan effort to remove weaknesses in our current election process to prevent such a crisis from ever happening again.

Leslie Zabrisie

Centerville

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