Oceanside CA– On Tuesday, July 15th, three days before the submittal deadline, supporters of the Six Californias measure will submit enough signatures to qualify the Initiative for the November 2016 statewide ballot. In February, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced, the proponent of an initiative to split California into six separate states, may begin collecting petition signatures for the measure.
The plan, known as ‘Six Californias’, is being pushed by venture capitalist Tim Draper. “California is ungovernable, as it is.” Draper said in a Fox Business News interview. “One group trying to manage the agrarian people in the central valley, the military groups down in LA, then Hollywood and up North, the people in Jefferson are trying to pull out not just from the state but from the country.”
The plan would split California into six new states which would then compete for counties. Draper said his plan would “give all of us sort of a refresh in government.” Draper continued “The refresh is desperately needed in a state that has the highest costs for the worst service.”
Draper believes the state’s poorest regions are the areas that want to split from the state, the most. Water rights have always been a big issue for the central valley and, with the current drought, those issues are magnified. Draper said the people of the central valley wonder why the people up North decide where all the water goes.
A statement by proponents of the Six Californias Proposal reads:
Six Californias is an Initiative to create six states with responsive, local governments. California needs a reboot. Our public schools have gone from the top in the nation to 47th. We are ranked 50th out of 50 for the worst business climate in the United States. We have high unemployment and the percentage of people living below the poverty line is steadily increasing. Our state needs a massive investment in infrastructure and a streamlined process to help grow and keep businesses. Our state needs our help. Six Californias is our opportunity to solve the many problems we face today. Six Californias gives us an opportunity to create a better future for all 38 million of us. Six states that are more representative and accountable. Six states that embrace innovation and strive to improve the lives of residents. With Six Californias we can refresh our government. California is a beautiful place to live. Let’s make it a great place to thrive
Dissatisfaction of government, and people feeling they were not being represented, led to a similar action in Colorado. An initiative to split Colorado, led by rural counties in Northern Colorado, failed last November on a 56% to 43% vote in Weld County.
The initiative faces opposition from Congress because the split would affect the Electoral College and the balance in the Senate. The U.S. Constitution requires that Legislatures must first approve any state that is to be created within its jurisdiction. The proponents of the plan will need to collected over 807,615 registered voters, eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election, in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent had 150 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by July 18, 2014.