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Obama Order Establishes Bipartisan Voting Commission

President Obama signed an executive order on Thursday establishing a bipartisan commission to examine problems of voter access after complaints of long lines at polling stations during last year’s election.

Mr. Obama promised during his State of the Union address last month that he would appoint such a panel, saying that “we are betraying our values” if voters end up sacrificing their franchise “because they can’t wait for five, six, seven hours just to cast their ballot.”

The commission will be headed by the lawyers for last year’s presidential campaigns: Robert Bauer, who represented Mr. Obama, and Benjamin Ginsberg, who represented his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. Mr. Bauer has long been Mr. Obama’s legal adviser and served a stint as his White House counsel. In addition to Mr. Romney, Mr. Ginsberg represented former President George W. Bush during both of his campaigns and the 2000 recount.

Mr. Obama’s order directed the new commission to submit a final report within six months of its first public meeting, but it was not clear when it would gather because seven other members are still to be appointed by the president.

The commission was charged with finding ways to shorten lines and “to promote the efficient administration” of elections.

“That report is intended 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,” said Josh Earnest, a deputy White House press secretary.



As Court Considers Marriage Law, Chief Architect Seeks to Return to Congress

A day after a majority of justices at the Supreme Court appeared to express doubts about the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, one of the lawmakers most responsible for its passage announced he would try to return to Congress.

Bob Barr, who wrote the legislation defining marriage as between a man and a woman for purposes of the federal government, and who sought the presidency in 2008 as a Libertarian Party candidate, announced on Thursday that he would seek an open House seat in Georgia.

Mr. Barr, a Republican who represented an Atlanta-area district from 1995 to 2003, is running to fill the seat of Representative Phil Gingrey, a Republican from Georgia’s 11th District, who announced Wednesday that he would seek the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Saxby Chambliss. Mr. Gingrey’s planned exit created an opening for Mr. Barr, who said a couple of weeks ago that he would not declare his political intentions until Mr. Gingrey had made his own clear.

Mr. Barr rose to some political prominence in 1996 when he sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act, which was challenged Wednesday at the Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Windsor. In 1996 as the bill was being debated, Mr. Barr gave a memorable speech on the floor of the House vigorously defending the law:

Mr. Chairman, as Rome burned, Nero fiddled, and that is exactly what the gentlewoman and others on her side who spoke yesterday and last night would have us do. Mr. Chairman, we ain’t going to be fooled.

The very foundations of our society are in danger of being burned. The flames of hedonism, the flames of narcissism, the flames of self-centered morality are licking at the very foundations of our society: the family unit.

But following his unsuccessful bid for the presidency, during which he largely disavowed his record in Congress, Mr. Barr called for the repeal of his own law in 2009. On his new campaign Web site, he pledged to focus on a smaller government that “can perform its constitutionally enumerated powers.”

In keeping with the theme of smaller government, Mr. Barr made his announcement at Adventure Outdoors Mega Superstore, in Smyrna, Ga., which boasts of having “10,000 guns on display” and three shooting ranges on site. On its Facebook page, the company’s chief executive, Jay Wallace, said that Mr. Barr’s candidacy would be “great news for your Second Amendment rights and personal liberties.”

Mr. Barr is not the only former Republican representative from the 1990s who has sought to return to Washington. Representative Steve Stockman, who was defeated in a 1996 primary after one term in office, made a successful comeback bid last November. Mr. Stockman raised eyebrows in February when he invited the musician and vocal gun rights advocate Ted Nugent as his guest to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address.



Tip of the Week: Beware of Tax Season Scams

The deadline for filing federal (and many state) tax returns is just a few weeks away, so the level of scam e-mail messages claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service are likely to increase in the coming days. Remember, the I.R.S. does not initially contact taxpayers by e-mail or text message to request PIN codes, Social Security numbers or other financial data. Do not click on any Web links or open attachments included with these types of messages because you could inadvertently install malicious software on the computer. You can report suspicious mail by forwarding the messages to phishing@irs.gov and the agency’s site has a page with additional safety information.



The Early Word: Definition

In Today’s Times:
Returning for a second day to the topic of same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court seemed poised to invalidate a central part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, Adam Liptak reports. If the justices strike the provision, same-sex spouses in jurisdictions where their marriage is legal would start to receive federal benefits.

The political momentum behind legalizing same-sex marriage could hinder its legal progress. Peter Baker writes that while the Supreme Court appears inclined to strike the federal definition of marriage, the justices might see the movement’s progress as reason not to intervene further.

Jeremy W. Peters describes the brief appearance outside the court of Edith Windsor, the 83-year-old plaintiff in the Defense of Marriage Act case.

In the fight for same-sex couples to have the right to marry, Mary Bonauto has achieved a status akin to Thurgood Marshall’s, the advocate for civil rights who went on to become a Supreme Court justice. Sheryl Stolberg profiles Ms. Bonauto, the top civil rights lawyer for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, whose decade of legal work to advance same-sex marriage has won her praise from her supporters and critics alike.

The Senate barber shop is about to feel the effects of budget cuts. Jeremy W. Peters writes that the shop, which has served senators since the 19th century and has survived the Civil War and Newt Gingrich, will be privatized over several years as the Senate sergeant-at-arms seeks to cut its losses.

Happening in Washington:
Economic reports expected Thursday include fourth-quarter gross domestic product and weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m., followed at 10 a.m. by weekly mortgage rates.

President Obama will be surrounded by mothers, law enforcement officials and victims of gun violence when he delivers remarks Thursday urging Congress to act on legislation to protect children from gun violence. His remarks in the East Room begin at 11:40 a.m.

Several sub-Saharan African leaders are in Washington for several days of events that include an honor cordon at 9:45 a.m. and a meeting with Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at 2:10 p.m. The guests are President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde.

The president and vice-president’s schedule also includes meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry at 3:45 p.m. and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew at 4:15 p.m.



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