If the Pennsylvania House acts with due dispatch, there's a chance you'll be able to eat your evening meals the remainder of this election year without a slew of those very personal -- yet recorded -- political phone calls soliciting your November vote.

The state Senate on Wednesday by a 48-1 vote approved a bill blocking those annoying "robocalls" from political campaigns that sent more than a few prospective voters through the roof in the runup to the April 22 primary.

Obviously it wasn't Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama who was personally targeting you with those pleasant "Hellos," and the temerity of those dinner-time interruptions let more than a few dishes of mashed potatoes go cold.

Of course, there's a catch if you don't want more one-way chats through the November election: You would have to register on a state-operated do-not-call list. Yes, another list, but this one would pertain only to pre-recorded political solicitations.

If a real, live person calls on behalf of a campaign or candidate, that's OK.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Dominic Pileggi of Delaware County, has the sense of things: "I don't think anyone really welcomes those calls and this bill gives people a choice."

The voluntary registration list was a sop to possible free-speech challenges. Further, the bill won't affect private organization communications.

If the bill -- or a reasonable facsimile thereof -- passes the House soon, it could take effect by Oct. 15, just in time

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to give voters two weeks of quieter meditation on candidate choices.

If voters thought the barrage of political calls preceding the April 22 primary was intrusive, well, let's hope this initiative becomes law.