Colorado’s most populous county is also one of the most accommodating to voters with disabilities. So says the Election Center, a national organization that trains and certifies the country’s election officials.

The center has recognized the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office and its Elections Department with the Independence Award for Innovation for Voting Accessibility. The honor highlights efforts to “guarantee voting accessibility for all citizens in the county,” according to a press release from the clerk’s office.

The plaudit stems from a clerk’s office partnership with the Independence Center, a Colorado Springs nonprofit that serves people with disabilities and their families to support independent living. The result was a concerted effort to reach out to voters with disabilities in the last election, as the clerk’s office explains:

In 2016, The Independence Center partnered with the Elections Department to identify specific challenges to voting accessibility for voters with disabilities, which include transportation to and from voting locations, and election judges who were not skilled in serving voters with disabilities.

In order to address obstacles to voting, the Elections Department worked with The Independence Center to train election judges in disability etiquette for both the 2016 Primary and General Elections.

For the Presidential Election, The Independence Center operated for two days as a highly accessible voter service and polling center (VSPC). Staffing at The Independence Center included American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, and election judges who had been specially trained in disability etiquette. As at all VSPCs, voters could vote by paper ballot or on one of the several electronic voting devices.

The upshot:

Over 450 voters used The Independence Center during its two days as a voter service and polling center. On Election Day, 188 of the 380 voters at The Independence Center used an electronic voting machine.

El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman is quoted in the office’s press statement:

“We are honored to receive the Independence Award and share it with the Independence Center … Our office is committed to ensuring all citizens may participate in our democracy’s cherished right to vote. It is gratifying to work with The Independence Center so that persons with disabilities have easy accessibility to vote, and to enhance awareness of the importance of voting accessibility for all citizens.”

Broerman’s Elections Department will continue its partnership with the Independence Center in this fall’s election.