Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway, center, with other elected officials address a group of supporters of the 51st State Initiative during an election result watch party at the Historic Fort Lupton Fort, November 5, 2013. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post) 
 
 Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway said the 51st state movement is halted — at least in his county — but there were positive benefits from the secession campaign. 
 
 "Weld County voters said this is an option we shouldn't pursue and we won't pursue it," Conway said Tuesday night. "But we will continue to look at the problems of the urban and rural divide in this state." 
 
 Weld County voters Tuesday soundly rejected the 51st State Initiative 58 percent to 42 percent. 
 
 But in five of the 11 counties where the secession question appeared on the ballot, the measure passed by strong margins. 
 
 In Kit Carson County, 52 percent of voters directed county commissioners to explore secession and 48 percent voted against. In Washington County, 58 percent were for the initiative and 42 percent against. 
 
 Phillips County went 62 percent for and 38 against; Sedgwick went 57 percent against and 42.9 percent for; Cheyenne County voters cast 62 percent of ballots for and 37.7 against; and in Yuma County, 59 percent of the vote went for the breakaway and 41 percent against. 
 
 In Moffat County, the question failed, with 54.8 percent voting against secession. In Elbert County, 74 percent of voters said "no" to the idea of breaking away. In Lincoln County, 55.5 percent voted against. 
 
 The ballot question, intended as a straw poll, asked residents whether their county commissioners should takes steps to secede from the Centennial State. 
 
 Fort Lupton Mayor Tommy Holton said Tuesday night that secession probably would not succeed. But he said the publicity would shed light on rural Colorado's grievances. 
 
 "We not only want to be at the table," he said, "but we want a voice at the table as well." 
 
 Proponents say they have become alienated from the more urbanized Front Range and are unhappy with laws passed during this year's legislative session, including stricter gun laws and new renewable-energy standards. 
 
 "The heart of the 51st State Initiative is simple: We just want to be left alone to live our lives without heavy-handed restrictions from the state Capitol," said 51st state advocate Jeffrey Hare. 
 
 A yard sign is seen along Main Street in Akron on Election Day, November 05, 2013. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post) 
 
 Secession is a difficult process. It would require a vote of the state electorate or legislature, and then the U.S. Congress. The last time a state consented to the loss of territory was when Maine split from Massachusetts in 1820. ||||| FORT LUPTON, Colo. - The largely symbolic effort to form a 51st state called North Colorado has fizzled. 
 
 Voters in 6 of the 11 rural counties that were voting on whether to ask their commissioners to pursue creating a new state have said no. 
 
 The movement is fueled by supporters' frustration with state government's focus on growing urban areas. 
 
 Voters in several northeast and eastern Colorado counties were not asked if they want to secede, but rather if they want their county commissioners to pursue the idea. Voters in Moffat County, on the Western Slope, are also voting on the idea. 
 
 The question on the ballot read: "Shall the Board of County Commissioners of ___ County, in concert with the county commissioners of other Colorado counties, pursue becoming the 51st state of the United States of America?" 
 
 As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, voters in Elbert, Lincoln, Logan, Weld, Sedgwick and Moffat counties were voting against pursuing secession. Kit Carson, Washington, Yuma, Phillips and Cheyenne counties voted to ask their commissioners to seek joining a new state. 
 
 The solid "No" vote in Weld County -- 30,562 to 22,313 -- was a sharp rebuke of commissioners in the most populous of the counties weighing secession. Weld County commissioners led the charge to secede, saying they were pursuing the idea because they felt agriculture, oil and gas exploration are under attack in the State Legislature, and the needs of rural Colorado counties were being ignored. 
 
 While the 51st state proposal failed to win broad support Tuesday night, organizers say their grassroots crusade will have a lasting legacy. 
 
 They are already backing a new initiative. They want to model the State Senate after the United States Senate, where counties would be given equal representation -- regardless of population size. 
 
 They also hope to find statewide candidates who understand and support rural issues. 
 
 "Certainly, in the 2014 election cycle, people running for office -- urban and rural -- must have good information about the urban vs. rural divide," said 51st state spokesman Jeff Hare. 
 
 "To your critics, some who may even be your own constituents, who say this was a waste of time, a publicity stunt, what do you have to say?" asked 7NEWS Reporter Marc Stewart. 
 
 "I'd say that can't be farther from the truth," said Weld County commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer. "I don't think it's ever a waste of time to listen to the citizens and that's what we did." 
 
 The results as of 9:40 p.m. 
 
 Cheyenne -- No: 37.7% Yes: 62.2% 
 
 Elbert -- No: 58% Yes: 42% 
 
 Lincoln -- No: 55% Yes: 45% 
 
 Logan -- No: 58% Yes: 42% 
 
 Kit Carson ­ -- No: 48% Yes: 52% 
 
 Phillips -- No: 37.7% Yes: 62.2% 
 
 Sedgwick -- No: 57% Yes: 43% 
 
 Washington -- No: 42% Yes: 58% 
 
 Weld -- No: 58%. Yes: 42%. 
 
 Yuma -- No: 18.5% Yes: 81.4% 
 
 Moffat -- No: 54.7% Yes: 42.2% ||||| DENVER — You’ve got North Carolina and North Dakota, so why not Northern Colorado? 
 
 Voters in several rural Colorado counties will be asked whether they want to form a new state tentatively named Northern Colorado in the November election, a reaction to the Democrat-controlled state legislature’s “war on rural Colorado.” 
 
 The Weld County Commissioners voted unanimously at Monday’s meeting to place a measure on the Nov. 5 ballot asking voters whether they want the county to join other rural counties in forming another state. 
 
 “The concerns of rural Coloradans have been ignored for years,” William Garcia, chairman of the Weld County Commissioners, said in a statement. “The last session was the straw that broke the camel’s back for many people. They want change. They want to be heard.” 
 
 Three other rural counties — Cheyenne, Sedgwick and Yuma — also plan to place the 51st state referendum on the fall ballot. At least three more counties plan to consider the proposal this week at their commission meetings, said Jeffrey Hare, spokesman for the 51st State Initiative. 
 
 Known for its agriculture and oil and gas production, Weld is the largest of the Colorado counties exploring a break with the state after the legislature’s sharp turn to the left with bills restricting access to firearms and doubling the state’s renewable-energy mandate for rural areas. 
 
 Democrats control both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office. Two Democratic state senators — Angela Giron and John Morse — are facing Sept. 10 recall elections in response to the legislature’s gun control votes. 
 
 Forming a state isn’t easy: Even if the ballot measures pass, the Colorado state legislature would be required to amend the constitution to configure the state’s borders and refer a request for a new state to Congress. 
 
 Approving a 51st state would require a majority vote of both houses of Congress, although the Constitution doesn’t require the signature of the president, Mr. Hare said. 
 
 “Again, folks say this can never happen. However, we are starting to hear from disenfranchised groups all over the country,” said a post on the 51st State Initiative’s website. “We are truly a divided nation. It is possible, if not likely, that we may not be the only group requesting from Congress the formation of a new state.” 
 
 This isn’t the first time disgruntled residents have explored the option of a state split. In the past few decades, movements have sprung up in favor of carving California and Washington into two states. 
 
 New York has had a host of proposals aimed at peeling off jurisdictions, including New York City, upstate New York and western New York. The most recent effort was in 2008, when the Suffolk County comptroller proposed splitting off Long Island. 
 
 Since the boundaries of the newly independent Colonies were finalized in the 1790s, two states have gained that status by breaking off from extant states. Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820, and West Virginia seceded from Virginia during the Civil War. 
 
 Given the complexities involved with creating a state, Mr. Hare said, the Northern Colorado movement is considering two other options: asking Wyoming to annex Colorado’s northern counties or requesting that the state legislature redraw its Senate districts to give a senator to each of the state’s 64 counties, analogous to how the U.S. apportions seats by state, regardless of their populations. 
 
 Colorado now has 35 senators in districts drawn by population, giving the state’s urban areas far greater sway in the state legislature. 
 
 “People are looking for hope because they feel like the government is out of control,” said Mr. Hare. “They feel kind of hopeless.” 
 
 Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway called Monday’s vote “a very positive move forward” that “gives us a chance to address our grievances from the last legislative session.” 
 
 The Greeley Tribune came out against the statehood movement in an Aug. 7 editorial, “Time to drop 51st state idea.” 
 
 “While we understand and agree with the message commissioners are trying to send to Denver — rural counties feel disenfranchised — we think Weld residents would be better served if commissioners drop the 51st state idea and focus on engaging the state’s political leaders in a constructive dialogue that addresses their issues,” the editorial said. 
 
 
 
 
 
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– Of 11 Colorado counties voting on the question, six—Cheyenne, Kit Carson, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma—voted "yes" to consider becoming the 51st state. The ballot measure asked whether county commissioners should "pursue becoming the 51st state of the United States of America." The most populous county addressing the issue turned the idea down, 58% to 42%, in what ABC 7 calls "a sharp rebuke of commissioners" at the forefront of the effort. "Weld County voters said this is an option we shouldn't pursue, and we won't pursue it," said one. "But we will continue to look at the problems of the urban and rural divide in this state." The issue centers on that divide, the Denver Post notes, with new laws—including tougher gun and renewable energy measures—frustrating some in the 51st state movement. "The heart of the 51st State Initiative is simple: We just want to be left alone to live our lives without heavy-handed restrictions from the state Capitol," says backer Jeff Hare. But it's a long shot, requiring state and US congressional approval. Still, Hare says the movement has left a mark: Next year, "people running for office ... must have good information about the urban vs. rural divide."