One DC resident has had enough of daylight savings time (DST). And now, the District’s Board of Elections has approved a proposed ballot initiative that would allow residents to vote on whether or not to keep DST, Martin Austermuhle of The 51st reported.
The ballot initiative was proposed by DC resident Daniel Bernier. He told Washingtonian that he became interested in the issue after hearing comedian John Oliver joke about it during a Kennedy Center performance last December.
“I find changing the time irritating for any number of reasons. I really just dislike the whole thing,” Bernier said. Ending DST in DC “would allow us to at least exercise a little bit of autonomy here in our own city and improve our lives,” he continued.
Bernier still has work to do to get the issue on the ballot, though. That includes enlisting volunteers to collect signatures from at least 5 percent of voters in each DC ward.
If DC does vote to end daylight savings time, Bernier says he hopes other states will follow suit.
It would be especially challenging to have Maryland and Virginia on different times zones than the District. As Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority head Randy Clarke posted on X: “Would be fun scheduling trains or buses that leave VA @ 7am, arrive @ 6am in DC then arrive after 7am in MD. Just little things like that have to get worked out.”
Feature image courtesy panitan/stock.adobe.com
