A first-time poll worker in an unprecedented election has a takeaway: We should trust the system.

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, I finished a very long day, 6am-9pm, working the polls for the first time. I went into the experience not knowing quite what to expect. I came out of it with a much greater understanding of – and appreciation for – the integrity of our election system.

I volunteered because I felt it was something I could do to help in some small way. At 57, I’m healthy and young (relative to the previous average age of a poll worker in our area, which was 73), my work is flexible, and I’m interested in the process.

Our downtown Monterey precinct had nine workers, all of us new except two, including the precinct inspector.

In fact, Carole Olsen, the precinct inspector, has been involved in this process for 50 years, since she first received the right to vote.

Olsen was orderly, regimented and strict on details. Things had to be done a certain way, in a certain order. While that could rub some the wrong way, I saw something else: Olsen was invested in the process of a free and fair election.

She did grow more relaxed throughout the day, but never less strict on the details. Our whole group – which included two high school seniors, two 20-somethings, and a young mom in her 30s – grew pretty close through the process. We had some fun, too, discovering mutual contacts and reminiscing to the pre-Covid days as we shared travel stories – chatting about life, not politics.

But observing Olsen’s character and commitment made me realize something powerful about our electoral system: Our system is full of integrity. It is a solid system.

How could I know that from my anecdotal experience? People who become precinct inspectors have put in the time to get there. They have spent dozens of hours training, reading and volunteering their time over numerous election cycles before they would ever get tapped to be a precinct inspector.

To get there, they have to believe in the integrity of the system itself. If someone is out to cheat the system, they would never give time like that to a volunteer cause year after year. (You do get a very small stipend as a poll worker that, when all is said and done, amounts to about $5/hour.)

So, if you extrapolate Olsen outward all across the U.S., you have a system of people who are watching over each precinct with a sense of personal investment, commitment to rules and integrity.

To me, it revealed why our voting system actually works. It’s all at the local level; it’s the people.

And precisely because it’s based on people, there is inevitably a small margin of error. Human beings mess up sometimes.

That the narrative of fraud really doesn’t match the on-the-ground experience. So, I wonder, why would someone choose to believe that narrative in the first place?

I can only account for my one day as a poll worker. But I hope my logic causes readers to see that our decentralized, highly local and people-centered system of elections is one we should trust.

Caroline DePalatis is an educator, author, small business owner and parent who lives in Monterey.