Backers seeking to break California away from the U.S. started collecting signatures Friday to get a proposed independence measure on the 2018 statewide ballot.

This isn't the first effort aimed at California secession but leaders say the previous tries were mostly about building awareness of the issue and increasing public support. They say recent polls show more Californians want a divorce from the union and believe that President Donald Trump's election also has boosted their cause.



"We definitely see that there's some newfound support for this and we want to get the signatures out there, especially now because we're in the first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency when he's going to be aggressively pursuing his policies that the people of California are going to reject — and have rejected," Louis Marinelli, president of the Yes California Independence movement, said in an interview Friday.

However, the state-prepared summary on the petition from California Secretary of State Alex Padilla calls out the uncertain road ahead in this effort, which would have multiple hurdles.

Specifically, the summary said "the fiscal impact of this measure is dependent on various factors, including a vote by the people on this measure, a subsequent vote on California independence, possible legal challenges, and implementation issues. Assuming that California actually became an independent nation, the state and its local governments would experience major, but unknown, budgetary impacts."

In terms of annual GDP, California would rank sixth worldwide if it were a separate nation. California, home to about one out of every eight Americans, voted in favor of Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

Marinelli pointed to a recent opinion poll by Reuters/Ipsos showing one third of California residents now support breaking away from the U.S. The Reuters poll of 500 Californians, which was conducted from Dec. 6 to Jan. 19, found 32 percent support for the withdrawal. That compares with about 20 percent support, or one-in-five Californians, who backed the secession idea in 2014.



According to Marinelli, the so-called Calexit backers have about 7,000 supporters mobilized to gather signatures statewide for the new California nationhood initiative. The California Secretary of State's office said Thursday the backers of the measure must collect the signatures of 585,407 registered voters to qualify for the ballot. Organizers have until July 25, 2017, to meet the requirement.

"We think it's going to be quite easy for us to make the sell," said Marinelli. "California is a different place and has its own culture, its own history, its own identity, its own world view, and its own ideology in a large respect. So we would feel better off if we can set our own destiny, set our own path forward and not be connected to a lot of these obsolete policies of the American system."

Added Marinelli, "There's a lot of this dysfunction going on in the American system, the corruption in Washington, the animosity within the United States as a whole. So we want to break away from all that and set a new path forward. To establish for ourselves some kind of progressive republic on the western shores of North America."

The referendum aims to repeal a provision in the state's constitution that reads "California is an inseparable part of the United States of America, and the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land."

"What we want to do is give the people of California the chance to vote yes or no on independence," said Marinelli. "If the people want to stay in the country and they want to remain a state they can vote no. We're certainly going to be focusing on the argument about convincing people why it's better for us to become our own country."

Calexit backers see divorce from the union as a two-step process — first the vote in 2018 to repeal the "inseparable" provision from the state constitution and then a special election in 2019 for the independence vote itself.</s>The state conservatives love to hate is beginning to reciprocate the feeling. Photo: YesCalifornia

Like the talk of secession in conservative southern states after Barack Obama became president, the idea of a separate California Republic builds on long-standing separatist feelings amplified by a momentous national election. Since Donald Trump became president while securing less than a third of the vote in California, the Yes California campaign — a.k.a. Calexit — has gotten a lot of attention and perhaps even some momentum in getting an initial measure placed on the 2018 general election ballot. An estimated 7,000 volunteers have begun amassing the 585,407 signatures necessary to place a constitutional amendment on the 2018 ballot deleting the state’s adherence to the United States and authorizing a 2019 referendum on independence.

The arguments for Calexit are pretty simple: The state is drifting ever-further away from the rest of the country in cultural attitudes and public policies, especially with respect to immigration and the environment. California’s size and wealth (its GDP is similar to that of France) make it the one state that might make a go of it alone. It is also a “donor state” when it comes to the relationship of federal taxes collected from Californians to the federal spending conducted there; one recent analysis showed California ranking 46th among the states in relative dependence on Washington.

But it’s clear the main reason for sudden interest in Calexit is Donald J. Trump, and the possibility a federal Republican regime under his direction would preempt California preferences on a wide range of issues. Even though Governor Jerry Brown and other statewide Democratic elected officials have kept their distance from Calexit, the saber-rattling they have conducted about the state’s willingness to fight Trump and the GOP in court has undoubtedly fed the Calexit sentiment. The latest Trump provocation, threatening sanctuary cities with the cancellation of all federal funds, is being perceived by both his friends and enemies as mainly aimed at the Golden State.

By some definitions, the entire state of California is a sanctuary state. A law passed in 2014 prohibits local jails from holding immigrants any longer than required by criminal law, with exceptions for violent and other serious crimes. And most counties in the state also prohibit holding immigrants beyond their sentence if federal immigration agents do not have a judicial order. And legislation currently making its way through the Legislature would further expand the law, by prohibiting all state and local law enforcement agencies to respond to requests from immigration authorities.

Having said all that, the process required to make Calexit a reality is not just daunting: It’s basically impossible. The first part is the easiest: If Yes California can get its initiative onto the 2018 ballot, it needs only 50-percent-plus-one approval to amend the state constitution. But then the 2019 referendum it authorizes is on shaky legal ground, and according to Yes California’s own ground rules, it would only “pass” if 50 percent of registered voters participated and 55 percent voted for independence. The participation standard alone sets a pretty high bar for success in an off-year election; turnout in the last regular midterm election was only 42 percent.

If a Calexit referendum in California succeeded, of course, it would only take effect if the rest of the country went along with it. That would mean a constitutional amendment requiring two-thirds votes in Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states, or the first constitutional convention since 1787. The only alternative, unilateral secession, was tried in 1861, as close scholars of history could tell you, and it did not work out well.

What the whole Calexit movement really represents is a cry of defiance against Trump, and against the temporary national triumph of people who are fine with melting down the polar ice caps to build more strip malls, instituting racial profiling as a cherished national law-enforcement policy, and criminalizing abortion. Any number of developments could take the steam out of Calexit, including the collapse of the Republican Party amid internecine quarreling. In any case, it ain’t happening — but it’s still a convenient lightning rod for real West Coast fury. And interest in the idea will get a boost from contemptuous conservatives who have long regarded the state as a nature preserve for hippies, sodomites, and border-crashers. There’s nothing like the prospect of secession to dramatize Americans’ very real differences.</s>California launches campaign to secede from U.S</s>Californians are seeking to secede from the United States of America (USA).California Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Thursday gave the green light for the proposed initiative to start collecting signatures.If enough signatures are collected, ‘Calexit’ could be on the ballot in 2018.If the ‘yes’ have their way at the referendum, provisions in the California Constitution which stipulate that the state is an “inseparable part of the United States” and that the U.S. Constitution is the “supreme law of the land” will automatically be repealedThis would mean California could govern itself.Yes California, the campaigners for the proposal, have argued the state is culturally out of step with the rest of the US.With 38.8million people, California is the most populous state in the US and the third most extensive at 433,970 square kilometers..It is the state with the most electoral college votes, with 55.“California loses [by] being a part of America culturally and financially,” Marcus Ruiz Evans, one of the group’s founders told the LA times.“It could be a nation all its own, everybody knows that. The only question is if they want to break off.”61.5 per cent of Californians voted for Hillary Clinton and 31.5 per cent did for Donald Trump.To qualify for the ballot, Yes California has to collect 585,407 valid signatures from registered voters over the next 180 days.</s>California secessionists launched their CalExit signature-gathering drive Friday, riding a wave of momentum churned up by the inauguration of President Trump.

Organizers of the Yes California Independence Campaign posted on their website a downloadable online petition for volunteers circulators a day after the proposed ballot measure was cleared by the California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.

The committee has 180 days to collect at least 585,407 valid signatures to qualify the initiative for the November 2018 ballot.

Recent polls show support for California nationhood falls well short of a majority, but that the idea is catching on with voters.

A Reuters/IPSOS poll released Tuesday found 32 percent of California residents surveyed support seceding from the union as the state’s staunchly liberal voters recoil from the Republican president.

“A third of Californians support #Calexit, Trump is coming after our undocumented immigrants & sanctuary cities,” said Yes California in a Friday tweet. “Come on Sacramento! Join us!”

The 1 in 3 figure represents a surge from a Hoover Institution Golden State Poll released Jan. 19, which found 27 percent of Californians favor CalExit, a term coined after last year’s Brexit vote in which British voters broke from the European Union.

“Among partisans, Democrats were more likely to support Calexit than Republicans, but in the wake of a presidential election, one has to wonder if those partisan differences are driven by dissatisfaction with the outcome of the presidential race rather than anything inherent in the politics of the Golden State,” said Tammy Frisby, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

The initiative would repeal a section from the California Constitution that declares the state is “an inseparable part of the United States and that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.”

The measure would also place a referendum on the 2019 ballot on whether to form a separate nation on the November 2019 ballot.

California Democratic legislators have positioned themselves as a bulwark against the Trump administration, releasing a video on Inauguration Day ticking off their policy priorities and describing California as a “light to the nation.”

“California is more than a great place to live; it is a great source of innovation and an unrivaled economic engine. And so, for the next four years and beyond, we will work to be a light to the nation,” the California Democrats said in the video, called a #DearCalifornians letter.

CalExit supporters argue that the state would be better off as an independent nation, given its ranking as the world’s sixth-largest economy and liberal politics. Democrat Hillary Clinton defeated Mr. Trump in California by a whopping margin of 61 to 31 percent.

“In the age of Trump and Brexit, anything is possible, including a democratic and legal method for California to become its own nation,” said Yes California President Marcus Ruiz Evans in a Jan. 21 op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News.

Others have said good riddance, citing California’s $400 billion in unfunded liabilities and debt.

“As long as we can build a wall around you and you promise to keep the Hollywood loonies, I’m all for it!” said Gail Bayne on Yes California’s Facebook page. “Good luck with a hostile nation invades you.”</s>A campaign for California to secede from the rest of the country over Donald Trump's election is gaining momentum, with supporters allowed to start collecting signatures for the measure to be put to a vote.

California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla gave the green light on Thursday for proponents of "California Nationhood" -- also known as Calexit -- to start collecting the nearly 600,000 signatures needed for the measure to qualify on the November 2018 ballot.

The 585,407 signatures required by July 25 represent eight percent of registered voters in California -- the most populous state in the country with nearly 40 million residents and the world's sixth-largest economy.

Should the initiative make it on the ballot, a "Yes" vote would repeal clauses in the California Constitution "stating California is an inseparable part of the United States and that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land," a statement by Padilla's office said.

Voters would then need to decide in another referendum in 2019 whether California should become a separate country.

Padilla said the independence measure -- deemed highly unrealistic -- would have a deep impact on the state and would likely face legal challenges.

"Assuming that California actually became an independent nation, the state and its local governments would experience major, but unknown, budgetary impacts," he warned.

"This measure also would result in tens of millions of dollars of one-time state and local election costs."

Calexit enthusiasts, whose campaign is called Yes California, are pushing for independence on grounds the state is out of step with the rest of the US and could flourish on its own.

"In our view, the United States of America represents so many things that conflict with Californian values, and our continued statehood means California will continue subsidizing the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children," according to their website.

The idea of independence became very appealing to many Californians following Trump's shock election.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton easily beat Trump in the progressive state, winning by more than 4.2 million votes, almost double the number of ballots cast for Trump.</s>New York – California has announced a proposal, called “Calexit” that would establish it as a separate nation from the U.S., officials have said.

The proposal for California to secede from the U.S. was submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday, according to a report.

The proposed “Calexit” initiative was a name borrowed from the UK’s “Brexit” departure from the EU.

“Calexit” would ask voters to repeal part of the state constitution that declares California an inseparable part of the U.S.

A recent poll found that one in three California residents would support a possible secession from the U.S. due to their opposition to President Donald Trump, according to the proposal.

No mention has been made of the president in the proposal.

If the proposal qualifies for the ballot and is approved by voters, it could be a step to a future vote on whether the state would break away from the rest of the nation.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla said the group behind the proposal, ‘Yes California Independence Campaign’, was cleared to begin attempting to collect nearly 600,000 voter signatures needed to place the plan on the ballot.

“In our view, the United States of America represents so many things that conflict with Californian values.

“And our continued statehood means California will continue subsidising the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children,” the Yes California Independence Campaign’s website says.</s>California Calexit organizers have successfully convinced the California government to allow them to gather the signatures necessary to present a secession ballot in the 2018 election that would call for a 2019 vote to secede from the United States, creating a California nation. According to the Associated Press, this already existing secessionist movement began gathering steam the moment Donald Trump was elected to the White House.

Almost one-third of all Californians currently support the idea of a California Calexit in which they would secede from the United States. As with the Brexit vote in the U.K., it’s quite possible that active campaigning by the initiative’s organizers could increase this percentage significantly.

As reported by USA Today, part of the purpose of the Calexit ballot initiative is to change the wording of certain clauses in the California Constitution that declare it to be an “inseparable part of the United States” and stating that the United States Constitution is the “supreme law of the land.” This would make possible a vote on California seceding from the United States.

But even assuming that the ballot initiative is successful and that a resulting secession vote for a California Calexit is “Yes,” there would still be obstacles to actually achieving a separate California nation. One of the principal problems is that the rest of the country has a say in whether California can actually do this or not.

For California to secede from the United States in a Calexit, a California Nationhood Amendment to the Constitution would have to be passed by the United States Congress and ratified by 38 states. This might seem like a fairly high hurdle – and it is. But people thought Brexit was unlikely to happen as well.

But as one of the organizers of the Calexit ballot initiative has pointed out, many of the people living in states that elected Donald Trump don’t like California or Californians, often wishing the state would fall into the sea. So a California Calexit amendment to the Constitution might just be something they can get on board with.

Of course, once California – which contributes almost $300 billion to the federal budget in taxes and receives much less in return – is gone, many of those people in red states might wonder what happened to all of their federal funding. Most Trump supporters seem to believe that they prop up California, instead of the other way round.

There would be – in the event of a successful California Calexit initiative – endless details that would have to be worked out between the United States government and the newly minted nation of California. For instance, what would happen to the Social Security fund? Would California get back those sums that it contributed to the fund, or some percentage based on its population? Or would they still use the existing Social Security program?

An agreement might be worked out where California citizens would still have access to the United States Social Security fund, in the same way that expatriates can live in Mexico and still get their check. But Medicare and Medicaid would also have to be transferred to California.

In the aftermath of a successful California Calexit, there would be the issue of a California military – assuming California wanted one at all. Given that California would be bordered by the ocean and otherwise surrounded by a country that presumably would not invade it, military expenditures might be unnecessary.

Yes, a California Calexit vote in the affirmative is highly unlikely. This is especially the case because the secession of California to form its own separate nation would also require the passage of the aforementioned constitutional amendment that might never make it out of committee, let alone see ratification by 38 states. Still, the odds have increased significantly since the election of Donald Trump – and are only likely to rise as Donald Trump’s antics continue in the coming months.</s>California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced Thursday that a ballot initiative called “California Nation” has been approved by the state to begin collecting signatures to qualify for the 2018 ballot.

The effort is supported by the “Yes California” campaign, an organization that enjoys the support of the Russian government and whose founder, Louis Marinelli, now lives in Russia. – READ MORE</s>California is officially one step closer to breaking away from the United States after documents were submitted to the Secretary of State that could trigger a public vote.

A group pushing for California to secede from the Union submitted proposals to the Secretary of State’s office on Thursday, which is likely to result in the plan being put on the ballot.

The initiative would ask voters to repeal part of the state constitution that declares California an “inseparable part of the United States of America.”

The proposed constitutional amendment, titled California Nationhood, would also ask voters to repeal the clause that describes the US Constitution as the “supreme law of the land.” If approved, it suggests scheduling a vote in March 2019 to ask Americans, “Should California become a free, sovereign and independent country?”

The initiative maintains that the election “shall constitute a Declaration of Independence from the United States of America” if two key conditions are met: at least 50 percent of registered voters participate and at least 55 percent vote ‘Yes’.

If both of conditions are satisfied, the measure requires submission to the United Nations of an application for the “newly-independent Republic of California” to be a UN member state, the initiative says, as cited by the Sacramento-based Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO).

Being a US state is “no longer serving California’s best interests,” the movement claims.

“Not only is California forced to subsidize this massive military budget with our taxes, but Californians are sent off to fight in wars that often do more to perpetuate terrorism than to abate it. The only reason terrorists might want to attack us is because we are part of the United States and are guilty by association. Not being a part of that country will make California a less likely target of retaliation by its enemies,” the campaign argues, among other things.

“America already hates California, and America votes on emotions,” Marcus Evans, vice-president of Yes California told to the Los Angeles Times.

“I think we’d have the votes today if we held it,” he added.

It must submit the valid voter signatures by July 25 to qualify for the November 2018 ballot.

The number of Californians who would rather see their state a sovereign nation than part of the United States jumped to 32 percent, a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll showed earlier this week. In 2014, it was only 20 percent.

The support for independence apparently rose in the wake of Donald Trump’s election in the November presidential election.

The poll was taken from December 6 to January 16 and has a credibility interval of 5 percentage points in California.
Yes California, the campaign to reinstate the independence of California launches its signature campaign.