{"id":140928,"date":"2018-06-14T02:51:07","date_gmt":"2018-06-14T02:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/california-voters-to-weigh-splitting-into-three-states\/"},"modified":"2018-06-14T02:51:07","modified_gmt":"2018-06-14T02:51:07","slug":"california-voters-to-weigh-splitting-into-three-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/california-voters-to-weigh-splitting-into-three-states\/","title":{"rendered":"California voters to weigh splitting into three states"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>                                  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo of Tim Draper\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/10324\/production\/_102004366_tv046141829.jpg\"\/>Image copyright                  Reuters<figcaption>Image caption                                      Tim Draper has collected more than 400,000 signatures to put the plan to partition California into three states on the ballot                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">A billionaire venture capitalist&#039;s bid to split California into three separate states has earned a spot on the ballot in November&#039;s mid-term elections. <\/p>\n<p>If Tim Draper&#039;s Cal-3 initiative gets a majority vote, it would trigger a long process to split California into northern, southern and central states.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Draper had campaigned unsuccessfully for six years, initially with a plan to divide the state into six new regions.<\/p>\n<p>It is the first time in 150 years that this choice is on the state&#039;s ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Should the proposal become a reality, it would be the first division of a state since West Virginia split off from Virginia in 1863.<\/p>\n<p>According to a memo filed on Tuesday by California&#039;s Secretary of State, Mr Draper collected more than 402,468 signatures across the state&#039;s counties for the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Cal-3 aims to break California into three new states: Northern California, Southern California and California.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#039;Russian trolls&#039; promoted California independence<\/li>\n<li>A man with a plan for six Californias<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The new California state would centre around Los Angeles up to Monterey County. <\/p>\n<p>Northern California would include the Bay Area and Sacramento.<\/p>\n<p>Southern California would stretch from San Diego to Fresno.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Three states will get us better infrastructure, better education and lower taxes,&quot; Mr Draper told the Los Angeles Times last summer, after submitting the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;States will be more accountable to us and can co-operate and compete for citizens.&quot;<\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  Getty Images<figcaption>Image caption                                      Cal-3 would slice the state into three: Northern California, Southern California and California                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Is this a new idea?<\/h2>\n<p>The notion of splitting California up has been around as long as the state itself. <\/p>\n<p>There have been over 200 attempts to divvy up the state by lawmakers, counties and well-off individuals like Mr Draper since California was founded in 1850.<\/p>\n<p>In 1859, California sent a proposal to split the North from the South to US Congress, but the Civil War left lawmakers too preoccupied to vote on it.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, initiatives to section the state into thirds or in half have floated around without much momentum.<\/p>\n<p>In 2012 and 2014, Mr Draper proposed splitting California into six states - an initiative that failed to make it onto the ballot both times. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The 40-year hunt for a killer<\/li>\n<li>Justice officials &#039;at war&#039; with California<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But he revived his idea as Cal-3 in September 2017.<\/p>\n<p>A spokeswoman for Cal-3, Peggy Grande,  told the Washington Post that California is &quot;not a one-size-fits-all state&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Grande said Cal-3 would make it easier for state lawmakers to focus on problems in smaller regions.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;None of those problems disappear, but what does happen is the solutions become more representative of the people they affect,&quot; she told the newspaper. <\/p>\n<h2>What would change on a national level?<\/h2>\n<p>California has 55 votes in the electoral college, and these have historically gone to Democratic candidates. <\/p>\n<p>That could change if Cal-3 is approved, which could leave Democratic lawmakers uneasy about allowing the change.<\/p>\n<p>Based on election data from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Southern California could become a swing state if the change is approved.<\/p>\n<p>Cal-3 would also add four senators to US Congress.<\/p>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  EPA<figcaption>Image caption                                      Californians will vote on the measure on 6 November                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>How likely is the proposal to pass?<\/h2>\n<p>The US constitution allows for the formation of new states, but it does not make it an easy process.<\/p>\n<p>Under Article IV, no new state can enter the union &quot;without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned, as well as of the Congress&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>That means that if Cal-3 succeeds with voters, California&#039;s legislature would also have to approve the move. Then, it would make its way to Washington, DC for federal approval.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the move is still a long shot, especially given its history. But on 6 November, Californians will have a chance to weigh in on the matter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright ReutersImage caption Tim Draper has collected more than 400,000 signatures to put the plan to partition California into three states on the ballot A billionaire venture capitalist&#039;s bid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}