- The Washington Times - Thursday, March 28, 2013

President Obama is issuing a new executive order on Thursday aimed at cracking down on election problems — but specifics are still scarce.

Read between the lines of the group’s mission statement, and it seems the group will be overseeing state election laws, to at least some degree.

Politico reports Mr. Obama’s order creates a new presidential commission on election body, co-chaired by two lawyers, Bob Bauer and Ben Ginsburg. Mr. Bauer served on the campaign of Mr. Obama in 2012; Mr. Ginsberg, on Mitt Romney’s campaign, Politico says.

Mr. Obama first announced the creation of this administrative body during his State of the Union speech. But the White House has yet to detail how exactly the commission will act. The terms of the executive order require members to create and present a report directly to Mr. Obama every six months. One of its considerations: How to “shorten lines and promote the efficient conduct of elections,” Politico reports.

The commission, in general, has an overall mission to “serve as a best practices guide for state and local election officials to improve voters’ experience at the polls under their existing election laws,” Politico says.

• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.

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