All the problems related to election fraud in the US would vanish if one thing were to happen: the states agree to cede to the Federal government's authority in the conduct of the presidential election. The federal government could then come up with a uniform method of electronic voting throughout the country. This method can be vetted by a professional body like the ACM (speaking of the ACM, they have devoted a full issue to this topic).

When India, with all the scope for corruption here, can conduct a blemishless electronic vote (at least there have been no complaints of large-scale fraud), the current state of affairs in the US doesn't reflect well on its technological/political maturity (imagine the mortification of having to listen to advice from Cuba and Zimbabwe on how to conduct an election).

Another thing I cannot understand about the American elections is voter registration. Why must a voter be registered as a Republican/Democrat/Independent before the election? Doesn't this sort of invalidate the concept of a secret ballot? Is this a way to ensure that people vote only once? If so, can't this be done without asking people to disclose their voting preferences?