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Source: Judy Eddy/WENN.com / WENN

Voters on the proposal, which is not the first for the Golden State to break it up into smaller states, will have a chance to respond to the ballot in November.

 

An initiative that would divide California into three separate states qualified Tuesday to appear on the ballot in November’s general election.

Californians will vote whether to separate into three states: California, Northern California and Southern California — subject to approval by US Congress.

The proposal by venture capitalist, Tim Draper to break up California in a campaign called “Cal 3,” received more than 402,468 valid signatures — surpassing the amount required by state law.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla will certify the initiative as qualified for the November 6th ballot on June 28.

The reasons for wanting to split California up?

Draper has said that partitioning California into three states would allow regional communities to make better and more sensible decisions for their citizens to address the state’s most pressing issues, including the school systems, high taxes, deteriorating infrastructure and strained government.

“The California state government isn’t too big to fail, because it is already failing its citizens in so many crucial ways,” Citizens for Cal 3 campaign spokeswoman Peggy Grande said in a Tuesday statement. “The reality is that for an overmatched, overstretched and overwrought state-government structure, it is too big to succeed. Californians deserve a better future.”

“It will simply divide the state into smaller, more manageable populations. Think of North Carolina and South Carolina; North Dakota and South Dakota; West Virginia and Virginia — California is already known for its Northern and Southern identities,” according to the Cal 3 website.

But critics have slammed the partition effort as a distraction and say that breaking up the state would cost billions of tax dollars.

Under the proposal, each state would have about 12.3 million to 13.9 million people.

California- This would include six counties: Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and San Benito counties.

Southern California- This would include 12 counties: San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, Mono, Madera, Inyo, Tulare, Fresno, Kings, Kern and Imperial counties.

Northern California- This would include 40 counties including the San Francisco Bay Area and the remaining counties north of Sacramento.

What are the chances of this happening?

If the measure is approved by voters, the governor will transfer the notice of state approval to Congress, which will vote to ratify the creation of the new three-state structure.

Constitutional lawyer and professor Jonathan Turley had told CNN that congressional approval is not impossible, but not likely to happen, as Democrats could feel they have too much to lose.

“Dems consider California to be a single golden empire, it would be hard for them to accept it as three golden empires.”

 

READ MORE: Fox8.com

Article Courtesy of CNN and WJW Fox 8 News Cleveland

First and Second Picture Courtesy of Judy Eddy and WENN

Tweet and Third Picture Courtesy of CNN, Twitter, and WJW Fox 8 News Cleveland

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