I may have something substantive to say about the proposed amendment. I have to check the federal constitution, but I think they use the Thursday preceding the penultimate Friday language you are deleting.
regional elections don't necessarily have to be at the exact same time as federal elections
and i think it's better to have a single specific time rather than a time period of over a day tbh
We in the Northeast made a conscious decisions years ago to hold our elections at the same time as the Federal elections in order to maximize turnout. There is no reason to change that.
The problem with using 12:00:00AM EST Friday is that it is potentially ambiguous. Which is the correct 12:00AM? The one that starts Friday or the one that ends Friday. The time period in the current constitution clarifies that it is the one that starts Friday. I see no reason to change it.
I also think you're making a substantive change to how federal amendments are voted upon. Instead of putting them to the voters ASAP, your amendment to Article VIII arguably causes them to be placed before the voters only once a month. Why?
12:00:00 AM is the first second of the day.