they're not higher. the federal government doesn't even care how old you are, let alone where you live or whether you are who you say you are. those standards are all locally mandated and locally enforced.
Sort of... The federal government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act[1], showing they did care. Although they don't directly enforce drinking age mins, the carrot and the stick approach was used.
I think this is a frame of reference issue. The I buy beer at whole foods, someone checks my ID and won't sell it to me if I don't have one. If I vote via mail in ballot, I sign my name on a sheet of paper that arrives to an unsecured mailbox. Whatever the law that applies, as an end user, beer seems to be a more restricted product.
