Voters in Prince William County, Virginia, were given a rare behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of their election office.

To counter misinformation about ballot security and election integrity, office staff have decided to give the public an insight into their work and let them form their own judgment.

The open day was so popular that 300 county residents quickly registered, even though there was a waiting list.

Office staff conducted tours over two days, explaining the details of the electoral process.

Visitors learned how voting machines are tested before election day, how voter lists are kept and how postal votes are handled.

“We only send ballots to voters who request them,” said an election official.

Visitors learned about the many levels of verification of election night results.

“The state system we use also has validation,” said Election Commissioner Eric Olsen.

They also learned about the challenge of staffing polling stations to ensure that both major parties are equally represented.

The most important finding of the tour participants News4 spoke to was increased confidence in the electoral system.

“I am very confident that this tour will make the election very safe,” said participant Nira Sheppard.

That confidence comes at a time when former President Donald Trump and other political leaders continue to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election. The Trump team is working to assemble more than 100,000 volunteer poll watchers and advocates to monitor the 2024 vote.

Olsen said he developed the open house plan in hopes of giving the public a chance to see for themselves what is happening.

“We’re bringing people into our process and showing them how it works and then also all the steps that we take to make sure that our elections are fair and accurate and really well administered,” he said. “We want to make sure that we demonstrate that to the public.”

Some participants on the tour said the media spotlight on the 2020 results had raised questions for them – questions that were clarified on Friday.

“I think when you listen to the media material, you already have doubts, but when you see this process and the time and care that goes into it and the effort that goes into it, some of those doubts really disappear,” said participant Doug Radoye.

Others viewed the tour as part of their civic duty and left with accurate information to share with the community.

“They have a lot of security measures,” said participant Michelle Oha. “They have a lot of double and triple checking.”

“You have to know how it’s done, and a lot of what you hear is just not true,” said participant Dennis Baugh. “So the only way to counteract that is to have good information.”