Call it the sleeper issue of the 2018 midterm elections: Daylight Saving Time.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Californians were overwhelmingly approving Proposition 7, a measure that proponents said could set the stage for the Golden State to keep daylight saving time year round – and never have to make the November "fall back."

Despite having no money spent on the campaign, the measure was passing with 59.8 percent of voters saying "yes" – one of the largest victory margins among California's 2018 ballot propositions.

But don't start resetting your watches quite yet. Passing Prop. 7 won’t immediately stop the twice-yearly chore of changing the clocks. Instead, a “yes” vote clears the way for state legislators to decide whether to keep daylight savings time all year (or ax it entirely).

Two-thirds of the Legislature would have to agree to make either option happen. And at this point, keeping daylight saving time year-round isn’t allowed by Uncle Sam.

Update:Father of Prop 7, Daylight Saving Time initiative, says 2019 is goal

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Federal law allows states to opt out of daylight saving time, but not to keep it all the time. Arizona, for example, has opted out of daylight saving time, and stays on standard time year-round.

For California legislators to make that change to the decades-old practice, they first would need to get an OK from Congress.

That’s what Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose, wants to see happen. He introduced the legislation to put Prop. 7 on the ballot. The measure won the support of the California Democratic Party. The L.A. Times Editorial Board also endorsed the measure.

Before the vote, Chu explained why he believes changing the clocks needs to stop, from health problems caused by adjusting to the time change, to the benefits of having what seems like an extra hour of sun at day’s end.

“I am in favor of keeping daylight savings time year-round,” Chu said. “But (this) will let voters have a say.

“I think it’s time for us to review the legislation passed by our grandparents and great-grandparents,” Chu said.

Why do we change the clocks?

Daylight saving time first started during World War I as a way to save on fuel. Now, from March to November, the Golden State, and most others, turn their clocks ahead one hour. Hawaii and Arizona don’t, staying on standard time instead.

Chu said constituents brought him the idea of changing how things worked in California. One of the biggest concerns, he said, was potential health problems caused by people having to adjust when they change their clocks.

“I don’t like switching back and forth. When you get to my age, you’ll probably feel that, too,” said Chu, 66. “It takes me a few days to readjust.”

Legislators cannot change daylight saving time without voter approval, since it was voters who agreed to put it in place 70 years ago. Chu introduced Assembly Bill 807 to allow the question to go on the ballot. It passed last summer.

A “no” vote on Prop. 7 would have kept things the same. Californians would continue to turn clocks ahead each March and back again each November.

A “yes” vote would allow legislators to make a change as long as it also would be allowed under federal law.

Chu’s bill also encouraged state legislators to consider any potential impacts that moving to year-round daylight saving time would have on communities along the border, if federal law changes to allow the switch.

‘Foolish to try’ again

State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, one of several senators who voted against the bill, said she has consistently opposed such a change. “This was something tried back in the early 1970s,” said Jackson, D-Santa Barbara. It failed then, she said. “It’s foolish to try to it again. It will cause probably as much, if not more, problems.”

In 1974, the federal Emergency Daylight Saving Time Act took effect as an attempt to cut energy use. It created a trial period for year-round daylight saving time set to expire in October 1975 but ended much earlier.

Back then, officials said it was difficult to gauge any energy savings or safety issues because of other changes in the law that happened at the same time. But some industries and areas did report issues, from schools that had to change schedules to employee safety hazards caused by the dark early mornings.

Daylight saving time generally was popular with the public, but not in the winter months, according to a federal report now archived at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.

Keeping daylight saving time wouldn't mean more hours of sunlight, Jackson said. It just would change the time of the day when people see the sun.

Instead of walking to school, going for a morning run, or commuting to work in daylight, people would head home or go for an evening walk before the sun sets.

What is the difference?

In Palm Springs, the sun rises in January around 7:30 a.m. Under daylight saving time, the sun would come up around 8:30 a.m. at that time of year.

Sunset also would come later. In Palm Springs, the sun would set shortly after 6:30 p.m.

That could mean some extra daylight after work, but also that kids would be walking to school in the dark. Opponents said that should be considered a significant safety concern.

Chu said daylight saving time during winter months could be a boon to youth sports, as athletes could practice longer outside without needing lights on the field. Businesses, too, might get more customers because people would want to go out more if it were still light out, he said.

Opponents, meanwhile, cited potential business problems from dumping current daylight saving time, including that California would be out of sync with other states.

Cheri Carlson of the Ventura County Star contributed to this report.