In 2021, the Jefferson County Elections division was the recipient of a 2020 Clearinghouse Award from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a federal body that recognizes election administrators across the country for innovation. Jeffco was honored for its online chat service that allowed voters to interact virtually with a live elections representative by visiting VoteJeffco.com during the 2020 state primary and general election. Voters could then access information such as drop box locations or registration forms via electronic means, which many said was more effective than over the phone.
Election staffers borrowed the idea from the Jefferson County Motor Vehicle division which uses an online chat feature to assist over 60,000 DMV customers per year. This saves them a trip to the office and has resulted in near universal positive ratings in customer satisfaction surveys. It also lets one agent serve many more customers and creates efficiencies for the county.
Jefferson County’s Web Services Team has played a key role in onboarding county departments to the live chat software. The Innovation Team is now collaborating with the Motor Vehicle division to introduce virtual agent “chatbot” software and provide even better, faster customer experiences and self-service support.
Learn more about Innovation at Jeffco and read more of our success stories.