The penalty for voting out of precinct could be in-ability to vote anything but statewide/national races.
You and I both carry Social Security Cards, Credit Cards, etc.
Why not a state issued Voter Card?
As electronic voting technology becomes trustworthy (which it certainly is NOT now) you could show up at any polling place and use your State Voter Card and have the system retrieve the proper ballot for you? Pie in the sky? No, happens every day on the internet today with Bank Accounts worth far more than one single vote.
There are three things needed to issue a reliable voter card.
1) appear in person to apply for the card.
2) Provide more than one form of government id with a
national clearinghouse (computerized) to make sure
its not duplicated.
3) Present card (and ID) to vote.
Fool proof? No. But way better than what we have today where any clown can vote?
When a majority of the citizenry gets to the point
that they no longer have full faith and confidence
in the manner in which we select our leaders,
SOMETHING will happen.
When will that time be?
Perhaps as early as Nov. 3, 2004.
What will that something be?
Say hello to the national ID card.