The question could appear on a statewide ballot in 2018 if a group of secessionists has its way. The only legal avenue for California to secede requires the state to win approval by two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of the states in the country, he said. The request was filed with the attorney general’s office, asking it to “prepare a circulating title and summary of the enclosed ballot measure: “Calexit: The California Independence Plebiscite of 2019.”

The independence vote would be held sometime in the spring of 2019, provided that the group changes the California Constitution and then collects the number signatures required to put the measure on the 2018 gubernatorial ballot. “We always thought that if we just connected with the people who thought about this, but didn’t tell their friends and family because they would be seen as kooky and weird, that the quiet population would become vocal,” Evans said. “I don’t think it gets to the point where we have to worry about those details and how to make it work,” Farber said. Let’s just have the conversation and discuss the facts.”

Yes California’s plan to secede is a long shot. The measure aimed at the 2018 ballot attempts to strike language from the California Constitution that says the state is “an inseparable part of the United States of America, and the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.” It also asks voters if they want to secede from the country. If voters approve the measure, it would establish a special election in March 2019 to ask voters again if they want California to become an independent country, Yes California wrote in a ballot measure filing. More than half of the registered voters in the state must participate in the special election and at least 55 percent must vote “yes” for the proposal to move forward, according to information submitted by the group. If voters approve the measure, “the governor shall carry and shepherd an application for the newly independent Republic of California to join the United Nations,” they say. Louis J. Marinelli, president of Yes California, said the group plans to go through the United Nations to seek independence because they don’t believe Congress would sign off on a California exit plan. “We’re not ashamed about going around Washington to achieve it,” Marinelli said. “Congress can’t tie its shoes. “Many of us have had that thought from time to time, but in the end it’s not really a feasible option as far as I can see.”

Evans said the group filed the ballot proposal in response to an uptick in support in a deep-blue state following the election of Donald Trump. About 11,000 people liked the Facebook page for Yes California Independence Campaign on election night. The group was nearly to 28,000 likes as of Monday. Supporters have even dubbed the movement “Calexit,” playing off “Brexit,” Britain’s historic decision to leave the European Union in June. Now the group needs to gather more than half a million signatures from registered California voters for the proposal to qualify for the ballot. Yes California’s main argument is that California and the U.S. have conflicting values, and the state pays more than its fair share in federal taxes to subsidize other states. Meanwhile, he said, the state’s infrastructure is crumbling, schools are failing and millions of people live in poverty. Other countries might hesitate to embrace California as an independent nation anyway, particularly if issues of currency and military were not negotiated with the remainder of the country first.
The campaign for California secession files a petition to seek signatures.