By Dave Dahl

The way we vote in America has somewhat of a checkered history.

Amber McReynolds leads a vote-at-home organization and compares the hurdles to a game of Monopoly: “Gerrymander Boardwalk indicates some of the redistricting, Community Chest indicates some of the campaign finance issues that we now face as a nation, because, again, voters were never the first and the foremost; it’s always been about somebody else in the process.”

McReynolds used to run the election office in Denver and is familiar with initiatives for vote-by-mail, used extensively in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state.

Calmetta Coleman of the Chicago Urban League says the 21st Century citizen expects everything right at the fingertips:

“It just needs to be easier among the group who is used to voting for things on their phone,” Coleman says she is hearing. “There was a time when we certainly weren’t shopping on our phones. Maybe we need to be more creative and more innovative about ways people can have access to vote.”

McReynolds and Coleman spoke on a panel put together by Reform for Illinois, formerly known as the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].