Daylight Saving Time Has a Devastating Consequence That No One Is Talking About

Slate ^ | 10/31/25 | Mark Joseph Stern

[Borges]

Every fall, Americans are plunged into darkness an hour earlier when the clocks turn back at the end of daylight saving time. Many see the beginning of standard time as a mild annoyance. Sun lovers view it as the unfortunate start to a season of afternoon sunsets. Parents, as I can now attest, experience it as sleep-wrecking proof that the human construct of time is no match for the anarchy of toddlerdom. But I am convinced that our annual “fall back” is something worse than all of these things: not just an inconvenience, but an act of state-sponsored voter suppression.

[dagunk]

YGBSM....

[Steven Scharf]

I want permanent DST. Tonight sunset is at 5:30 pm. Sunday it is 4:30 pm. In early December sunset is going to be a 4:04 pm here in Maine.

[Myrddin]

Permanent DST would have sunrise at 9:01 AM and sunset at 5:52 PM at the end of December. Permanent Standard time would have sunrise at 4:52 AM and sunset at 8:12 PM in late June. At latitude 43 north it makes sense to move the clocks. Being set permanently in either daylight or standard time causes a problem.

[decal]

My thought was, in summer the sun rises earlier the farther north you go.

In winter, DST makes no sense for the reason you mention. Remember when yearlong DST was tried in the mid-70s? Too many kids getting hit by cars while walking to school in the dark.

[FreedomPoster]

I dislike having to reset 4-5 clocks. And the dogs will be demanding to be fed on time, they do not recognize a time change.

Leave our clocks alone!

[Right_Wing_Madman]

My thought was, in summer the sun rises earlier the farther north you go.

You're correct, and the sun sets later!

[Fiji Hill]

Hooray for standard time. Now I can get up with the sun.

[ducttape45]

Agreed. Permanent Standard Time is only logical, and natural, way to go.

[Glad2bnuts]

I like permanent DST. Being in the PNW, it gets mighty dark. I would rather have darkness in the AM and a little more light in the PM.

[quantim]

Like we need more ammunition to state that all of our politicians suck, they are only excellent at one thing - taking our money and giving it to someone else.

[FamiliarFace]

I am a native Floridian living in the Midwest, for roughly 35 years. I struggle every single Fall to deal with the time change, even more than I do with the Spring time change. I most definitely have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Yet, my problem with voting is solved by casting my vote sometime AFTER the sun rises, and BEFORE the sun sets.

It’s not THAT HARD, folks!

[PAR35]

divide the country somewhere around 40 degrees north,

Too far north, and we certainly don't want San Francisco and LA if we are dividing the country. /grin

[Bikkuri]

"behind a paywall"

When you get to a paywall, if using Brave, click on the SpeedReader to get the whole page.

[KarlInOhio]

Have you ever felt, walking to the polls or watching returns, that it’s oddly black, bleak, depressing outside? Are your memories of Election Days past (I’m looking at you, 2016) set against the backdrop of too-early nightfall that seems, frankly, like the end of the world?

What a crazy rant. From 1966 to 2005 (other than a couple years of permanent DST in the 70s) we went to standard time on the last Sunday of October. It was switched in 2005 to one week later. That means it has always been that dark on election night. 2010 was an exception because in was Nov 2 and DST ended Nov 7.

Also the author seems to get standard time effects backwards. One the next few mornings I'll be bouncing up an hour early clock time, not confused and groggy in the morning. I'll save that for March.

[FamiliarFace]

I agree with that!

[irishjuggler]

“... Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign was all optimism and light, presenting a forward-looking message of renewal, hope, and collective purpose. “

Oh, bulls—t. Denouncing Trump as a dangerous authoritarian in the mode of Adolf Hitler is optimism and light? These people people live in a fantasy world.

[DesertRhino]

The mandatory sniveling articles with time change. I like long summer nights, and I like early dark in the winter so I can sit down with some Dinty Moore beef stew and light a fire.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I’m in southern AZ and I prefer permanent standard time. I get up by 4 am anyway, so in the summer I’d rather have more light in the morning and then have the sun just go the hell away earlier in the evening. And even in the winter it’s light enough to get around outdoors by 7 am or so.

There’s a lot of difference across the U.S. concerning day length in the various seasons and concerning climate too. What works well in one region might not be good at all in another. The matter of DST should be left to the individual states, not the federal government.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Just pay them $200 a vote and nobody will feel “suppression” whether in sunshine or darkness.

[Paladin2]

Try living in Fairbanks……