A proposal of splitting California into six states has gotten enough signatures to be put on the November 2016 ballot, according to the “Six Californias” campaign’s announcement on Monday, July 14.
#SixCalifornias will be submitting signatures in Sacramento tomorrow for placement on the November 2016 ballot. Stay tuned for coverage!
— Six Californias (@SixCalifornias) July 14, 2014
According to USA Today, Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the group, said the plan has gained over the 808,000 required signatures to place the measure on the ballot.
USA Today reported in February when the plan was first proposed, the initiative, called “Six Californias,” was backed by Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Tim Draper to separate the big state into six parts for political reasons. Draper said he initiated this proposal because the state is too big and has too much population to represent the diverse opinion within it.
“If we have six Californias and we in effect dissolve the one we’ve got, those six allow us a new start,” Draper said in a video of the campaign’s Youtube channel. He also suggested that the “six states” would have their own capitals and legislatures, which would also allow them to write their own constitutions and have better representation of the citizens there.
Time reported that the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said if Draper’s proposal was implemented, it would create both America’s richest state, Silicon Valley, and poorest state, Central California, at the same time.
The plan proposed to divide California like this:
- Jefferson: northern part, including Humboldt and Mendocino counties
- North California: Sonoma, Napa and Sierra Nevada region
- Silicon Valley: San Francisco, San Jose and most of the Bay Area
- Central California: majority of central valley farm area, including Tulare and Fresno counties
- West California: Santa Barbara and Los Angeles
- South California: Inland Empire of San Bernardino and Riverside, as well as San Diego
Via Facebook/Six Californias
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