Compared with all other things that we fund as a nation -- multi-billion dollar submarines and battle carrier groups and aircraft to go with them, and all manner new wizbang technology that people in the Pentagon put on purchase orders on a daily basis -- this seems to me to be a national priority.

IMHO it is too important to be left to local jurisdictions to select which technology they want to subscribe to based on the cost to their local jurisdiction.  

I'm sure we wouldn't ask individual counties to chip in for say a Strategic Missile Defense system.  That would be silly.  But when it comes to defending the country against vote fraud, cost just doesn't come to mind as the most important consideration.

The cost of voting machines was not born entirely by local jurisdictions either.  The Congress of the United States allocated funds to pay for the upgrades, and the people of the those united States therefore have a say in how the money is spent.

This is not a new idea by any means -- it's all in the would-be, proposed Boxer/Clinton bill  -- but we definitely need a national standard for how voting is conducted.  Period.  

We can put a man on the moon but we can't ensure fair and transparent elections?

This country has satellites that can read news print anywhere on the globe but we can't ensure fair and auditable elections?

This country has laser guided cruise missiles that are are accurate to within a foot from thousands of miles away - but we can't ensure that everyone who is entitled to vote gets to vote and that their vote is counted.

Come on?