This article discusses SB 397, the California bill that would let individuals register to vote on-line. But it also explains that there are two plausible methods for capturing a signature from the person registering to vote. The bill would use the signature that already exists in government Motor Vehicle Departments. The second half of the article also discusses a device that could be used to electronically record a new voter’s signature.

As the article says, SB 397 has neither been signed nor vetoed yet, and Governor Jerry Brown has until October 9 to act. Another bill concerning voter registration, SB 205, would outlaw paying registration workers on a per-registration card basis. UPDATE: Governor Brown has until October 9 to act on SB 205, not October 1. His deadline is 30 days from the date the legislature adjourned, not 30 days from the date on which the bill was presented to him.

The much-publicized Pennsylvania bill to provide that each U.S. House district would elect its own presidential elector has been introduced, and is SB 1282. It has a hearing on Tuesday, October 4, in the Senate State Government Committee. The author, Senator Dominic Pileggi, is the leader of Senate Republicans, and Republicans have a 4-3 majority on the committee.

Even though the bill has been introduced, the bill still isn’t drafted, according to the legislature’s web page. Therefore, it is not known whether the bill will provide that candidates for presidential elector must live in their district, or whether the petition to get minor party and independent candidates on the ballot will be transformed from a statewide petition to a petition that is circulated within each district.

In 2008, half the presidential primaries were over on February 12. By contrast, in 2012, half the presidential primaries won’t be over until April 13. Because there is a slight difference between Democratic presidential primary dates (or the existence of Democratic presidential primaries) and Republican presidential primaries, this calculation uses the Republican presidential primaries.

The only state that had a presidential primary in 2008, but which won’t have one in 2012, is Washington. There were 41 presidential primaries in 2008 and 40 in 2012 (counting D.C., but not any territories). Not all presidential primaries are binding. The only states in 2012 that won’t hold presidential primaries are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. All presidential primaries are paid for by taxpayers, except that the South Carolina Republican presidential primary is paid for partly by the party and partly by the taxpayers.

UPDATE: when this blog post was first published, it said the median date was April 3. Afterwards, Ohio shifted from March to June, and that altered the median date, so this post was updated on October 26.