SACRAMENTO, Calif.: Donald Trump’s election as president is giving a big social-media boost to an unlikely effort in the nation’s most populous state: a plan to vote on seceding from the union.
The Yes California Independence Campaign hopes to put a question on the November 2018 ballot that would authorize a statewide independence vote for the spring of 2019. Wednesday the group set up a tent outside the state Capitol in Sacramento.
A look at what’s happening:
Campaign President Louis J. Marinelli said the election results offer further proof that California is more progressive than the nation as a whole. Voters endorsed ballot measures that included recreational marijuana and increased taxes on the rich. Many Californians were offended by Trump’s statements on immigration and other issues.
“People are starting to come to the realization … ‘Wait a minute, this is not the type of country we want to live in,’ ” said Marinelli, who lost a primary bid for the state Assembly this year.
To the north, in Portland, Ore., two residents filed a separate petition for a 2018 ballot initiative for Oregon to secede.
Supporters of the initiative note that California, with its 39 million residents, is often compared to other nations, not other states. Data from the World Bank show its economy was equivalent to the sixth-largest in the world last year.
Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda said the Constitution does not provide for state secession, so the only way to do it legally would be to change the Constitution — an act that requires the approval of Congress and 38 states.
“It’s not going to happen. You’re not going to find 38 states,” he said. “The theory of our Constitution for over 200 years is we sink or swim together.”