Public Opinion

Many politicians assume the public prefers DST, but data and history indicate otherwise. Preference between the two times is rarely asked, and polls depend heavily on how and when they’re conducted. Most people don’t know which time is which (granted, it can be confusing). Many who think they prefer DST usually just prefer summer’s naturally longer days, without realizing how dark winter mornings would be under permanent DST.1234

Those who favor one time or the other are generally split (40% Standard vs 31% DST in a 2019 October scientific poll of 1,075 Americans;56 35% DST vs 28% Standard in a 2019 March scientific poll of 1,288 Americans7).

The majority clearly wish to stop changing clocks as soon as possible (93% in a 2019 governmental poll of 223,273 British Columbians;8 84% in a 2018 governmental poll of 4.6M Europeans;9101112 67% in a 2018 scientific poll of 600 Pacific Northwesterners;13 60% in California’s 2018 Prop 7 ballot measure;214 54% in a 2019 scientific poll of 1,288 Americans7).

History has shown when public opinion favors permanent DST before enactment, support quickly reverses to opposition after DST’s long, dark winter mornings are experienced. This happened most clearly in the US in 1974, when support for permanent DST dropped from 79% to 42% in a matter of months. Similar outcomes occurred in the UK in 1971, and in Russia in 2014.2151617181920

Public opinion demands we stop changing clocks now. The quickest, easiest, safest way is to restore permanent Standard Time. Moreover, public health demands we both stop changing clocks now and choose permanent Standard Time. Public health must take precedence over shifting public opinion of the two times.21621

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